Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stock Position in The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Boston Beer were worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SAM. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Boston Beer by 88.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 81 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boston Beer during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Amundi grew its stake in Boston Beer by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Boston Beer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Boston Beer during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.13% of the company’s stock.

Boston Beer Price Performance

NYSE SAM opened at $274.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.02. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.78 and a 12 month high of $395.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $314.49 and a 200-day moving average of $337.91.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($1.27). The company had revenue of $393.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.57 million. Boston Beer had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.13%. Boston Beer’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Boston Beer Company, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Boston Beer

In other news, insider Carolyn L. O’boyle sold 101 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.49, for a total transaction of $30,652.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,133,231.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Carolyn L. O’boyle sold 101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.49, for a total transaction of $30,652.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,231.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Carolyn L. O’boyle sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.72, for a total transaction of $35,773.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,393.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 24.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SAM shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Boston Beer from $350.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $337.00 price target on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Boston Beer from $257.00 to $250.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Boston Beer from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.86.

Boston Beer Profile

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.