Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Forsta AP Fonden cut its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 287,900 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 64,000 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $26,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after purchasing an additional 437,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after acquiring an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 55.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,928,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 100.6% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.92.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock opened at $100.46 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.89. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $103.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total transaction of $148,414.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.