Metis Global Partners LLC Has $5.12 Million Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,338 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 3,601 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Starbucks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,756,001,000 after purchasing an additional 387,632 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,388,924,000 after buying an additional 232,031 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,367,331 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,091,378,000 after acquiring an additional 268,030 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Starbucks by 11.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,541,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $962,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,051 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Starbucks by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $493,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,206 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total value of $277,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,933,582.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $651,738 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Starbucks Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.11. 22,153,770 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,042,146. The firm has a market cap of $82.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $72.67 and a fifty-two week high of $108.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.84.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 11.38% and a negative return on equity of 49.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 62.81%.

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.