Townsquare Capital LLC Has $848,000 Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 74.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,065 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 29,392 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SBUX. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.48.

More Starbucks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is weighing a stake sale or IPO for its Japan unit could surface hidden value and improve the company’s capital structure. Starbucks weighs Japan stake sale or IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary about room for international expansion and more U.S. stores reinforces the long-term growth narrative for SBUX. Starbucks CEO Says 22,000 Overseas Stores Could Double
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also encouraged by signs that Starbucks is gaining traction beyond the morning coffee rush, suggesting turnaround efforts around afternoon traffic and beverage innovation may be working. Starbucks Sees Encouraging Growth beyond the Morning Rush, CNBC Reports
• Positive Sentiment: New drink launches, including blended Refreshers, are drawing attention because they could boost traffic with younger consumers and support sales growth. Starbucks’ latest drink launch is a bet on the future of fast food beverages
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Brady Brewer disclosed a pre-arranged sale of 1,641 shares under a 10b5-1 plan; this is routine insider activity but can slightly weigh on sentiment. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece argued the market may be pricing in Starbucks’ turnaround too early, which could temper enthusiasm if execution slows. Starbucks: The Market Is Pricing In Success Too Soon

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $210,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,053,565. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 1,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $154,795.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,563,473.73. This represents a 2.01% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,099 shares of company stock worth $804,907. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock opened at $98.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.82, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks Corporation has a one year low of $77.99 and a one year high of $108.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.47.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The coffee company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 3.89% and a negative return on equity of 29.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

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

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.