A Starbucks drive-through in Denver, Colorado. Image credit: Starbucks.

Given Starbucks' (SBUX -0.93%) success during the last two decades, it isn't surprising that the nation's leading investors and money managers hold substantial positions in the coffee company. Its top five institutional shareholders control $19.6 billion worth of its outstanding common stock, equating to an ownership interest of 21.5%.

This is a sizable stake, to be sure, but it's nevertheless in the same ballpark as other large publicly traded companies such as Walmart  (WMT 1.03%) and Microsoft (MSFT 1.46%):

  • Walmart's five biggest institutional shareholders (i.e., excluding the founding Walton family) control 9.3% of the discount retailer's outstanding stock. That equates to $19.3 billion worth of its shares at today's price -- click here to see the five biggest owners of Walmart stock.
  • Microsoft's five biggest stockholders own 18.9% of its stock, which is obviously more in line with Starbucks. The total dollar value of the five biggest institutional stakes in Microsoft translates into $66.8 billion worth of shares in the software company -- click here to see the five biggest owners of Microsoft's stock.

So, who are Starbucks' five biggest shareholders? You can find the answer to this question in the brief slideshow below.


Data in the slideshow, as well as the ownership data for Walmart and Microsoft, was sourced from Yahoo! Finance on December 1, 2015. Slideshow image credit: Starbucks.