Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Position in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 192,121 shares of the coffee company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,953 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $16,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,246,316,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Starbucks by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 85,460,350 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $7,229,968,000 after acquiring an additional 8,774,198 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Starbucks by 146.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,049,192 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $553,201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,596,014 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Starbucks by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,691,772 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,243,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Starbucks by 80.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,105,164 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $433,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277,792 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

More Starbucks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Turnaround momentum: analysts and some prominent investors are calling Starbucks a recovery story after recent operational changes and a more generous rewards program that appears to be boosting demand. Josh Brown names SBUX a top stock
• Positive Sentiment: Customer loyalty actions: Starbucks revamped its rewards program to drive frequency and AUV recovery — a potential tailwind for same‑store sales if sustained. Rewards program update
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate and governance items: the company will webcast its March 25 annual meeting (forum for investor questions), and the CEO made small disclosed stock sales (minor ownership reduction). These are informational but not immediate operational catalysts. Annual meeting webcast SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Proxy‑advisor warnings: two proxy advisory firms flagged that Starbucks may be under‑estimating the financial and reputational risks from persistent labor disputes — a governance red flag that can pressure the stock and complicate investor support. Reuters: proxy firms warn Starbucks Seeking Alpha: proxy firms warn
• Negative Sentiment: Union restarts and contract push: Starbucks Workers United submitted a detailed contract proposal seeking a $17 minimum start wage and 4% annual raises and is seeking to reopen bargaining — this raises the prospect of higher labor costs and renewed store‑level disruption. Yahoo Finance: union contract proposal CNBC: details of baristas’ asks
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and analyst caution: coverage notes the union trying to restart talks and some firms moving to more cautious stances — near‑term investor anxiety over labor negotiations is weighing on the stock. TipRanks: union talks pressure stock WSJ: union seeks to reopen negotiations
• Negative Sentiment: PR/governance noise: founder Howard Schultz’s relocation and related publicity about state tax policy add incremental governance/PR distraction during sensitive labor negotiations. Financial Post: Schultz relocation coverage

Insider Activity at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of the 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 owned 59,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,789,226.08. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 1,641 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $159,373.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,411,077.60. This trade represents a 1.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,729 shares of company stock valued at $460,974 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBUX opened at $99.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $112.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.32. Starbucks Corporation has a 12-month low of $75.50 and a 12-month high of $104.82.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.03). Starbucks had a net margin of 3.63% and a negative return on equity of 28.66%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.400 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBUX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Starbucks from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $89.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.22.

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.