Merit Financial Group LLC Has $521,000 Holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD)

Merit Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,056 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock after selling 1,539 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 629 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 643 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the consumer goods maker’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.53% of the company’s stock.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:BUD opened at $60.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.46. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a 52 week low of $51.66 and a 52 week high of $66.24. The company has a market capitalization of $105.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The consumer goods maker reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.06. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company had revenue of $14.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.8722 per share. This is a positive change from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s previous annual dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a yield of 1.1%. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV’s payout ratio is currently 24.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BUD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BNP Paribas downgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.70.

About Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

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.