Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Acquires 31,805 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,970 shares of the coffee company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,805 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $10,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transce3nd LLC raised its holdings in Starbucks by 270.3% in the 2nd quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 274 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 125.2% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 286 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ SBUX opened at $88.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $101.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks Corporation has a 12 month low of $75.50 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.13.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.41 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 4.99% and a negative return on equity of 31.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is 151.22%.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 11,700 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 53,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,513,160. This trade represents a 28.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SBUX. Wall Street Zen raised Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $100.00 target price on shares of Starbucks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.12.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.