Insider Selling: Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) CFO Sells $143,849.64 in Stock

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Starbucks Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $98.26 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a 12-month low of $71.55 and a 12-month high of $104.68. The firm has a market cap of $111.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.70.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. Starbucks’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 73.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after buying an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Starbucks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,358,464,000 after acquiring an additional 333,004 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after purchasing an additional 7,015,375 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,476,967,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Starbucks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,146,744,000 after purchasing an additional 327,734 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.81.

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.