California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 20.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,411,412 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 616,402 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $204,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Starbucks by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 181,133 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $15,324,000 after buying an additional 18,393 shares during the last quarter. Arkos Global Advisors raised its position in Starbucks by 142.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arkos Global Advisors now owns 6,568 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 3,858 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Starbucks by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,105,164 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $433,923,000 after buying an additional 2,277,792 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 337.3% in the 3rd quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 14,867 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 11,467 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 124,813 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $10,559,000 after acquiring an additional 8,877 shares during the period. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 59,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,789,226.08. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $58,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,601,700. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 4,729 shares of company stock worth $460,974 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson started coverage on Starbucks in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $116.00 price target on Starbucks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seventeen 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.22.

Starbucks Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SBUX opened at $99.15 on Monday. Starbucks Corporation has a twelve month low of $75.50 and a twelve month high of $104.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.32.

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

Key Stories Impacting Starbucks

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

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.