Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Position in The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) by 1.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 29,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Boston Beer were worth $7,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 81.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $349.00 price target (down from $389.00) on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Boston Beer from $265.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Boston Beer from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $281.10 price target on the stock. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Boston Beer from a “moderate sell” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.12.

Boston Beer Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE SAM opened at $208.52 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.35. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.00 and a 52 week high of $329.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.05.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $1.38. Boston Beer had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $481.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Boston Beer Company, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boston Beer Company 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.