Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Acquired by Biondo Investment Advisors LLC

Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,740 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,244,812,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after buying an additional 7,598,146 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $284,283,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 1,491.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,808,571 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $256,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Starbucks in the third quarter worth approximately $126,574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus raised Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.12.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $97.73 on Friday. Starbucks Co. has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $111.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.50.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.