Holocene Advisors LP Makes New $50.92 Million Investment in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 522,263 shares of the coffee company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,915,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after buying an additional 7,015,375 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after acquiring an additional 327,734 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Starbucks by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,720,903 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $678,923,000 after acquiring an additional 221,718 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 108.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $348,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324,847 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,362,100 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $327,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. The trade was a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $34,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,242 shares in the company, valued at $3,316,143. This trade represents a 1.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SBUX. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. DZ Bank cut shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $101.51 on Tuesday. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $103.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $97.63 and its 200 day moving average is $88.10.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.72%.

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.