The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 419,836 Shares of Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,651,651 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 419,836 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $147,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Starbucks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC lifted its position in Starbucks by 296.2% in the 1st quarter. Financial Freedom LLC now owns 313 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SBUX opened at $103.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $117.50 billion, a PE ratio of 78.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.81. Starbucks Corporation has a 1-year low of $77.99 and a 1-year high of $109.23.

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

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 187.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SBUX. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group cut Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.42.

Key Headlines Impacting Starbucks

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect earnings per share of approximately $0.65, representing improvement from the year-ago period. Evidence that the turnaround is improving traffic, customer experience, or store execution could support the stock. Starbucks Q3 earnings preview
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says the “Back to Starbucks” strategy is showing signs of resonating with customers, while the company’s combination of mobile ordering, drive-through service, and in-store ordering may be strengthening the customer proposition. Starbucks dividend and turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: The options market is pricing in an approximately 5.51% post-earnings move, signaling elevated volatility but not its direction. Investors should expect a potentially significant reaction to the earnings release and guidance. Starbucks options-implied earnings move
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street expects third-quarter revenue of roughly $9.12 billion, down about 3.6% year over year. The combination of declining sales and a sharply higher valuation raises the risk of disappointment if comparable-store sales or the outlook fall short. Starbucks stock ahead of Q3 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also questioning whether Starbucks can maintain its dividend while funding the turnaround. Thin dividend coverage and continued weak growth could limit upside despite generally constructive analyst opinions. Starbucks dividend coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Starbucks reportedly scrapped an AI-powered inventory-counting tool developed with NomadGo. The decision is unlikely to be a major earnings driver, but it raises questions about execution and the pace of technology adoption. Starbucks AI inventory tool report

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Starbucks news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $231,816.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,045,856. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,687 shares of company stock valued at $679,033 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Starbucks Company 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.