Moors & Cabot Inc. Trims Stake in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 40.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,903 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 6,707 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 176,722 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $16,126,000 after acquiring an additional 81,952 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 47.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,642 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the second quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 92.8% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,225 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 7.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 112,710 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $10,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,978 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SBUX. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.48.

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,548,198.79. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 59,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,789,226.08. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,111,085. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $99.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $113.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.12, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.03 and its 200 day moving average is $93.83. Starbucks Corporation has a 52-week low of $77.99 and a 52-week high of $108.88.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.17 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.89% and a negative return on equity of 29.24%. Starbucks’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 187.88%.

More Starbucks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Starbucks said afternoon traffic is rising after its strategy shift, with visits after 2 p.m. improving as the company pushes new products and efforts to bring customers back into stores. Starbucks says afternoon traffic is rising as turnaround starts to take hold
• Positive Sentiment: Another report echoed the improving traffic trend, suggesting Starbucks’ turnaround plan may be starting to lift demand during traditionally slower afternoon hours. Starbucks sees a lift in afternoon traffic after a strategy shift
• Positive Sentiment: Starbucks received a Zacks Strong Buy income-stock mention, which may help reinforce the bullish view that the stock remains attractive to some investors. Best Income Stocks to Buy for May 28th
• Neutral Sentiment: Alsea launched the first Starbucks Smart Lounge in Chile, expanding the brand’s footprint and adding a work-and-meeting format that could support future international growth. Alsea launches first Starbucks Smart Lounge in Chile
• Neutral Sentiment: Starbucks’ presentation at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference likely kept investors focused on management’s turnaround messaging, but it did not introduce a clearly new catalyst. Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks quietly retired an AI inventory agent after it miscounted stock and slowed baristas may raise questions about the effectiveness of some of its operational technology investments. Starbucks quietly retired its AI agent just months after deployment after it hallucinated coffee shop inventories and slowed down baristas
• Negative Sentiment: Separate coverage on South Korea highlighted a sales drop and backlash tied to a marketing controversy, underscoring ongoing brand and international execution risks. Starbucks Suffers Significant Drop in Sales in South Korea
• Negative Sentiment: Another article said Starbucks’ South Korea backlash is testing international growth and governance controls, which could keep pressure on sentiment if the issue spreads or worsens. Starbucks South Korea Backlash Tests International Growth And Governance Controls

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.