Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases 336 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,154 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,756,001,000 after purchasing an additional 387,632 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,619,709 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,519,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,524 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,718,368 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,650,462,000 after acquiring an additional 8,451,599 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Starbucks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,388,924,000 after buying an additional 232,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,222,931,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,665. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.39. 6,481,499 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,584,698. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.17. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $89.21 and a 52-week high of $115.48. The stock has a market cap of $103.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 50.76%. The firm had revenue of $9.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

Starbucks Profile

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.