Ethic Inc. Buys 7,123 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,181 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,123 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Starbucks by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 49,713 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,536,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in Starbucks by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 335,279 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $31,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Fullcircle Wealth LLC increased its position in Starbucks by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 12,146 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Starbucks by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 2,733 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Starbucks by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,599,379 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $328,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SBUX shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Starbucks from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.72.

Starbucks Trading Down 2.3%

Starbucks stock opened at $80.30 on Monday. Starbucks Co. has a 1-year low of $71.55 and a 1-year high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.88.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The coffee company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.10). Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.41%.

Starbucks Company 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.