Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,511 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $45,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,106,209 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $10,138,442,000 after purchasing an additional 784,432 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,128,649 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,292,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,348,790 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,826,001 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,259,516,000 after acquiring an additional 548,245 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 718,880 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth $1,244,812,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SBUX shares. Argus upgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Starbucks Stock Up 11.3 %

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $88.68 on Thursday. Starbucks Co. has a twelve month low of $71.55 and a twelve month high of $117.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.14 and a 200-day moving average of $98.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a net margin of 9.73% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 78.71%.

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.