Starbucks Corporation $SBUX Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,026,321 shares of the coffee company’s stock after buying an additional 335,173 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.62% of Starbucks worth $594,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Starbucks in the second quarter valued at $1,246,316,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 146.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,049,192 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $553,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,596,014 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,757,954 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,169,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,451 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 68.0% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,027,814 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $277,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Starbucks by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,578,977 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $511,202,000 after buying an additional 1,026,056 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $100.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.81 billion, a PE ratio of 83.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.93. Starbucks Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $104.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.03.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.62 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.63% and a negative return on equity of 28.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.400 EPS. Analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBUX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. William Blair raised shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Starbucks in a research report on Monday. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.22.

Starbucks News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large drop in short interest — Short interest fell ~14.8% in February to about 41.24M shares (3.6% of float) with a 6.4 days?to?cover, reducing short?squeeze risk and removing a layer of downside pressure.
• Positive Sentiment: New rewards program gaining traction — Early reports say the revamped Starbucks Rewards rollout is taking hold, which could lift transactions and loyalty metrics if sustained. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Nashville supply?chain hub — Opening a North American supply?chain/corporate hub in Nashville aims to tighten logistics, lower costs and improve inventory flow, supporting margin recovery over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. transactions improving — Zacks flagged the first rise in U.S. transactions in eight quarters, a sign of recovering customer traffic and revenue momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: New/updated analyst coverage — DA Davidson initiated coverage (neutral) and other brokers have mixed stances; overall consensus remains a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target near $104. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgrade — Wolfe cut SBUX to Peer Perform from Outperform, highlighting that Starbucks is early in a multi?year turnaround and faces high execution risk, which can cap multiple expansion. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CEO Brady Brewer (and an EVP) reported small share sales (totaling several thousand shares); modest in size but often interpreted as a near?term negative signal by some investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Brand/PR risk — Public criticism over sugar content in some seasonal drinks introduces reputational and potential regulatory risk for marketing/product formulation. Read More.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $242,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,789,226.08. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 1,641 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $159,373.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,411,077.60. This trade represents a 1.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Company 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.