New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 925 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

New England Research & Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,794 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SBUX. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Starbucks by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,888 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Starbucks by 21.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 806,884 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $62,816,000 after buying an additional 144,516 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $316,000. Farmers National Bank increased its holdings in Starbucks by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 61,181 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $4,763,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SBUX. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. This trade represents a 2.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $108.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.89. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $110.08.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.72%.

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.