Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Has $1.10 Million Stock Position in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lowered its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,027 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,106,209 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,138,442,000 after buying an additional 784,432 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Starbucks by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,924,230 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,011,796,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174,682 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,128,649 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,292,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,348,790 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,826,001 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,259,516,000 after purchasing an additional 548,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Starbucks by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,868,817 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,448,030,000 after acquiring an additional 718,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SBUX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $103.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $114.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Starbucks from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.72.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX stock opened at $85.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.31. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.41%.

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.