Starbucks Corporation $SBUX Shares Sold by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,017 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 6,136 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $3,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Trading Up 0.4%

SBUX stock opened at $106.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.11 and a 200-day moving average of $92.36. Starbucks Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.99 and a 12-month high of $108.88. The company has a market cap of $121.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.01.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.89% and a negative return on equity of 29.24%. The company had revenue of $9.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 187.88%.

Key Stories Impacting Starbucks

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear to like the cost-cutting focus, as the layoffs and office closures are intended to improve efficiency, support margin recovery, and help fund the company’s turnaround strategy. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment also remains supportive, with TD Cowen upgrading Starbucks to Buy and raising its price target, citing improving sales drivers, margin recovery, and multiple tangible catalysts for the comeback story. Analyst upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: The restructuring comes with a sizable estimated $400 million charge, which could weigh on near-term earnings even as management argues the actions will strengthen the business over time. New York Times article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent trading also reflects a broader re-rating of the stock, which has been pushing toward new highs as investors gain confidence in CEO Brian Niccol’s turnaround plan. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: The job cuts and office closures also signal that the turnaround is still in progress, and the company may continue to face pressure from restructuring costs and execution risk before the benefits show up in results. Wall Street Journal article

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $210,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 57,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,053,565. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.81, for a total transaction of $233,621.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,548,198.79. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,111,085. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.48.

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.