Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 130.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 80,137 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,319 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $7,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,891,648 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $9,756,001,000 after acquiring an additional 387,632 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,217,752 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,388,924,000 after acquiring an additional 232,031 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 11.8% in 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 last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,146,033 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $493,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,206 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.8% in the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,956,442 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $452,374,000 after purchasing an additional 133,620 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CEO Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction of $277,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,199 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,582.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,000 shares of company stock worth $629,738. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SBUX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Starbucks from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Starbucks from $102.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Starbucks from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price target on Starbucks from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.68.

Starbucks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $87.87 on Wednesday. Starbucks Co. has a one year low of $84.29 and a one year high of $115.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.39. The stock has a market cap of $99.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.97.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.02). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The business had revenue of $9.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.96%.

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.