Legal & General Group Plc Grows Position in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,026,321 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335,173 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $594,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 41.6% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 28,739 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares in the last quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at $354,000. Navalign LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 12,609 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 150.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 6,568 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 3,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,507 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX opened at $100.77 on Wednesday. Starbucks Corporation has a one year low of $75.50 and a one year high of $104.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.03.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.62 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.63% and a negative return on equity of 28.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays set a $116.00 price target on Starbucks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,411,077.60. The trade was a 1.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $242,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 59,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,789,226.08. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Starbucks

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.

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.