Saratoga Research & Investment Management Has $49.98 Million Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Saratoga Research & Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 593,466 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 28,442 shares during the period. Starbucks accounts for 2.6% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $49,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,000 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 57,653 shares in the company, valued at $6,053,565. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.81, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,111,085 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX opened at $106.82 on Friday. Starbucks Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $77.99 and a fifty-two week high of $108.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.36. The company has a market capitalization of $121.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 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 for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “sector perform” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.48.

Starbucks 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.