Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 834,452 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,758,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 834,452 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.26% of Ambev worth $114,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Global Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 107,182,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,531,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,411 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Ambev by 8.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,604,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 4,368,652 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 2.0% in the third quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 45,818,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,442,000 after acquiring an additional 888,510 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 244.5% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 43,146,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,297,000 after purchasing an additional 30,623,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ambev by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,312,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,401,000 after purchasing an additional 754,570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABEV shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ambev in a research note on Friday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Ambev from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $3.50 to $3.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3.20.

Ambev Trading Down 0.9 %

Ambev stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.24. 7,863,553 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,914,431. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ambev S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.23 and a 12 month high of $3.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.08.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter. Ambev had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

About Ambev

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, other non-alcoholic beverages, malt, and food products. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe and Hoegaarden, Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Presidente, Presidente Light, Brahma Light, Bohemia, The One, Corona, Modelo Especial, Stella Artois, Quilmes Clásica, Paceña, Taquiña, Huari, Becker, Cusqueña, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Pilsen, Ouro Fino, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith's, and Kokanee brands.