Will Starbucks’ New Property Attract These Top Institutional Shareholders?

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) purchased its first farm, and it has intentions to use the 600-acre property in Costa Rica to develop new coffee varieties and to test methods to eradicate a fungal disease called coffee rust that has caused problems in the industry. The company closed on the purchase on Friday, and it partially decided to purchase the farm because its location will allow it to test different growing methods, in order to understand what makes coffee plants thrive at different elevations. The land has a range from 3,600 to 5,500 feet above sea level. “We are talking about doing innovative things we would not be able to do without this farm,” Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said to The Wall Street Journal.

These institutional firms indicated owning shares of Starbucks in Q4 2012. They reported owning a total of 570.543 million shares on 12/31/2012. The shares closed at $53.43 on 12/31/2012.

Here are the ten largest positions in Starbucks at the end of December 31, 2012.

FMR LLC held 35,593,475 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $1,908,878,102. This brought the portfolio total to 0.34 percent.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc /MD/ held 34,345,408 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $1,841,944,268. This brought the portfolio total to 0.54 percent.

Vanguard Group Inc held 33,027,380 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $1,771,258,425. This brought the portfolio total to 0.22 percent.

State Street Corp held 28,566,744 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $1,532,034,511. This brought the portfolio total to 0.22 percent.

Blackrock Institutional Trust Company N.A. held 19,898,880 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $1,067,176,956. This brought the portfolio total to 0.25 percent.

Capital World Investors held 18,150,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $973,384,519. This brought the portfolio total to 0.36 percent.

Northern Trust Corp held 12,738,762 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $683,179,820. This brought the portfolio total to 0.28 percent.

Sands Capital Management LLC held 10,787,280 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $578,521,838. This brought the portfolio total to 2.32 percent.

Winslow Capital Management LLC held 10,729,471 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $575,421,541. This brought the portfolio total to 1.84 percent.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp held 9,639,589 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $516,971,168. This brought the portfolio total to 0.18 percent.

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