Fruth Investment Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Fruth Investment Management reduced its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,781 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 6,752 shares during the quarter. Starbucks comprises about 1.6% of Fruth Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $5,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SBUX. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Transce3nd LLC boosted its stake in Starbucks by 270.3% during the second quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 274 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in Starbucks during the second quarter valued at $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 125.2% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 286 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Starbucks from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price target on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.44.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.6%

SBUX opened at $85.08 on Monday. Starbucks Corporation has a 12 month low of $75.50 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.51. The company has a market cap of $96.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 151.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp purchased 11,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 53,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,513,160. This represents a 28.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Profile

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.