Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $2.35 Million Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,523 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,756,001,000 after acquiring an additional 387,632 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,619,709 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $4,519,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,524 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 26,718,368 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,650,462,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451,599 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Starbucks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,388,924,000 after buying an additional 232,031 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,222,931,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Starbucks from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $112.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Starbucks from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.05.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.39. 6,481,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,584,698. The firm has a market cap of $103.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.17. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $89.21 and a 1-year high of $115.48.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total value of $305,597.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock worth $375,665. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks Company 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.