Highland Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,203 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 176,722 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $16,126,000 after buying an additional 81,952 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Starbucks by 16.8% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,310 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 73.5% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,789 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after buying an additional 6,689 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in Starbucks by 14.9% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,314 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 7.2% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,178 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBUX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Starbucks Stock Down 0.3%

SBUX stock opened at $86.42 on Friday. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $75.50 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.53. The stock has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.01.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 7.18% and a negative return on equity of 36.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 105.17%.

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.