Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 932,565 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 36,362 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $85,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR grew its stake in Starbucks by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 11,312 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its stake in Starbucks by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 4,240 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,860 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its stake in Starbucks by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SBUX. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Baird R W lowered shares of Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Starbucks from $124.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $114.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $83.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $96.22 and a 200-day moving average of $97.80. The stock has a market cap of $95.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a 52-week low of $71.55 and a 52-week high of $117.46.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.71%.

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.