Legal & General Group Plc Has $592.94 Million Stake in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,041,171 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,850 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $592,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. New Street Research set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.48.

Starbucks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $103.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.71 and a 200-day moving average of $93.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.51 billion, a PE ratio of 78.11, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.01. Starbucks Corporation has a 12 month low of $77.99 and a 12 month high of $108.88.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The coffee company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.89% and a negative return on equity of 29.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 187.88%.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,789,226.08. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.81, for a total transaction of $233,621.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,559 shares in the company, valued at $8,548,198.79. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,111,085 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.