Centaurus Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,045 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,406 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Starbucks by 2.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,720,903 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $678,923,000 after buying an additional 221,718 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 108.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,475,156 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $348,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324,847 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Starbucks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,362,100 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $327,771,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Starbucks by 1,466.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,350,932 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136,992 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 3.9% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,255,967 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $317,424,000 after purchasing an additional 122,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Up 2.4 %

SBUX stock opened at $102.50 on Monday. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $103.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.19.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Starbucks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 73.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SBUX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Starbucks from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 380 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,770.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,316,143. This trade represents a 1.06 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.