KCM Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 97,763 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 6,227 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $8,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. Beta Wealth Group Inc. grew its position in Starbucks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 6,114 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,349 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 0.8% during the first quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,610 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Aerodigm Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Aerodigm Wealth LLC now owns 4,245 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 13,516 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SBUX. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.42.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX stock opened at $103.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $102.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.69. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $77.99 and a fifty-two week high of $109.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.52, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.89% and a negative return on equity of 29.24%. The firm had revenue of $9.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 187.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $231,816.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,045,856. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,000 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $210,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,053,565. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 8,687 shares of company stock worth $889,033 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.