Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 123 Shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Cigna Investments Inc. New lowered its stake in shares of Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,554 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,974,407 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,482,045,000 after acquiring an additional 437,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,928,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015,375 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $1,476,967,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598,146 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Starbucks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,762,684 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,146,744,000 after acquiring an additional 327,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,747.36. This represents a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $111.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.55 and a fifty-two week high of $112.62.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 78.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SBUX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush upped their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Starbucks from $118.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Starbucks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.33.

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.