Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,515,590 BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,515,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,185,000. Norges Bank owned 1.18% of BellRing Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in BellRing Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,534,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in BellRing Brands in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BellRing Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,438,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,419,000 after acquiring an additional 135,105 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in BellRing Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in BellRing Brands by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 37,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 5,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.30, for a total transaction of $384,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,166,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,851,832.30. The trade was a 0.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 218,636 shares of company stock valued at $16,677,550 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

BellRing Brands Price Performance

BRBR stock opened at $75.17 on Wednesday. BellRing Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.06 and a 1-year high of $80.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.42.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. BellRing Brands had a net margin of 13.32% and a negative return on equity of 130.14%. As a group, analysts anticipate that BellRing Brands, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BellRing Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRBR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BellRing Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of BellRing Brands in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.13.

About BellRing Brands

BellRing Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. It distributes its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels.