Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,768 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 3,338 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $2,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after buying an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,277,756 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,358,464,000 after acquiring an additional 333,004 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Starbucks by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,779,859 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,928,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Starbucks by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,149,937 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,916,777 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,087,406,000 after purchasing an additional 154,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Starbucks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Starbucks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.12.

Starbucks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $99.28 on Friday. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $112.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.30.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Starbucks Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

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.