First Trust Advisors LP Has $43.64 Million Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its Starbucks position by 4.2%, selling 22,505 shares and retaining 515,832 shares valued at $43.64 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $104.22, and several firms (Piper Sandler, RBC, BTIG) recently set targets around $103–$105.
• Insiders have sold modestly in March — including EVP Sara Kelly and CEO Brady Brewer — with a total of 4,729 shares sold (~$461,000) in the last 90 days, and insiders now own just 0.03% of the company.

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 515,832 shares of the coffee company's stock after selling 22,505 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Starbucks were worth $43,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 270.3% during the second quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 274 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Starbucks in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Starbucks by 457.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SBUX shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total value of $242,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 59,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,789,226.08. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $58,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,601,700. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,729 shares of company stock worth $460,974 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Starbucks

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company opening a new Nashville supply‑chain and corporate hub aimed at lowering distribution costs and improving product flow — a concrete execution step that could lift margins over time. Starbucks Nashville supply chain hub
• Positive Sentiment: Customer metrics improving: U.S. transactions and early signs of adoption for the revamped rewards program are supporting comps and revenue recovery expectations. Rewards program adoption lifts SBUX
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~14.8% in February, reducing one source of downside pressure and indicating fewer traders are betting against the name in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Starbucks will webcast its 2026 Annual Meeting (virtual) on March 25 — routine governance event that increases transparency but is not expected to move the stock materially. Annual meeting webcast
• Neutral Sentiment: DA Davidson and other firms adding coverage brings liquidity and attention; coverage itself is neutral unless accompanied by a clear rating/target change. New analyst coverage at DA Davidson
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgraded SBUX to Peer Perform from Outperform, flagging that Starbucks is early in a multi‑year turnaround with high execution risk — analyst skepticism can cap multiple expansion and weigh on near‑term sentiment. Wolfe Research downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Brady Brewer sold shares in early March (1,641 shares on Mar 5 and 588 on Mar 9, ~ $218k total), reducing his stake modestly — insider selling can be read as a negative signal even when amounts are small. SEC Form 4 disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: PR/brand risk: commentary about sugar in seasonal drinks and competing‑focused pieces raise the prospect of reputational or regulatory headwinds and add to investor caution. Sugar criticism and brand risk

Starbucks Price Performance

SBUX stock opened at $101.47 on Thursday. Starbucks Corporation has a 52-week low of $75.50 and a 52-week high of $104.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.93.

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

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.

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