Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised its price objective on Starbucks to $115 and kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 16.22% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst coverage is mixed-to-positive—16 Buy, 13 Hold and 1 Sell—with an average price target of $104.93; Starbucks trades near $98.95, has a high P/E of 81.78, and guided FY2026 EPS to 2.15–2.40.
• Insiders have made modest sales recently (CEO Brady Brewer sold 1,641 shares; EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500), while large institutions such as Norges Bank and Capital Research materially increased holdings, leaving about 72.29% of shares owned by institutions.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $105.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the coffee company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.22% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Starbucks from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $92.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Starbucks in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starbucks from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.93.

Starbucks Stock Performance

SBUX opened at $98.95 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $95.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.02. The firm has a market cap of $112.73 billion, a PE ratio of 81.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.95. Starbucks has a twelve month low of $75.50 and a twelve month high of $104.82.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.62 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 3.63%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.400 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Starbucks news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 1,641 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $147,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 84,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,593,840. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $242,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,370 shares of company stock valued at $608,664 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,232,650,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 11.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,774,198 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 65.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,447,854 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,637,704,000 after purchasing an additional 7,725,547 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,727,405 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $7,135,228,000 after purchasing an additional 7,007,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,596,014 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.