South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,493 shares of the coffee company's stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Starbucks by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,106,209 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $10,138,442,000 after acquiring an additional 784,432 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,924,230 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $5,011,796,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174,682 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,128,649 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $2,292,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,348,790 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Starbucks by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,826,001 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $2,259,516,000 after purchasing an additional 548,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Starbucks by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,868,817 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,448,030,000 after buying an additional 718,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $114.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered Starbucks from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Starbucks from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.72.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.8 %

SBUX traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.31. The company had a trading volume of 5,670,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,347,868. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.30. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The company has a market cap of $93.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The coffee company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.90 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. Starbucks's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Starbucks's payout ratio is presently 88.41%.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee worldwide. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Channel Development. Its stores offer coffee and tea beverages, roasted whole beans and ground coffees, single serve products, and ready-to-drink beverages; and various food products, such as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and lunch items.