First Manhattan CO. LLC. Decreases Stock Holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its position in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 354,623 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock after selling 57,593 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV were worth $17,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUD. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 9,856.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 46,796 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 46,326 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in the 4th quarter valued at about $569,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new position in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,506 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 8,961.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 100,674 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after buying an additional 99,563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus raised Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.00.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Stock Performance

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV stock opened at $67.10 on Friday. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a one year low of $45.94 and a one year high of $67.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.71.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The consumer goods maker reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.04. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 15.29%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.0492 per share. This is a boost from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s previous annual dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Profile

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV produces, distributes, exports, markets, and sells beer and beverages. It offers a portfolio of approximately 500 beer brands, which primarily include Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois; Beck's, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Michelob Ultra; and Aguila, Antarctica, Bud Light, Brahma, Cass, Castle, Castle Lite, Cristal, Harbin, Jupiler, Modelo Especial, Quilmes, Victoria, Sedrin, and Skol brands.