Howard Schultz has halted Starbucks’ buybacks of its stock.
Getty Images
Howard Schultz, now on his third stint as Starbucks
‘ top executive, just bought millions of dollars of the coffee chain’s stock on the open market.
Starbucks (ticker: SBUX) is at a crossroads. Momentum is gathering for unionizing at its locations. The stock has collapsed 40% so far this year, compared with an 18% drop in the S&P 500 index . And Schultz, who returned formally as interim CEO, has halted stock buybacks.
But he certainly hasn’t ruled out his own stock purchases. Schultz paid $10 million on May 10 for 137,500 shares, an average price of $72.67 each, according to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schultz now owns 19.5 million Starbucks shares in a personal account, and owns another 2.2 million through limited-liability companies.
Starbucks didn’t immediately respond to a request to make Schultz available for comment.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
