First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR - Free Report) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 219,610 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 47,199 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.17% of BellRing Brands worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRBR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BellRing Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,438,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,012,419,000 after acquiring an additional 135,105 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BellRing Brands by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,577,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,885,000 after purchasing an additional 96,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in BellRing Brands by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,266,375 shares of the company's stock worth $321,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,691 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in BellRing Brands by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,655,607 shares of the company's stock worth $275,413,000 after purchasing an additional 898,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in BellRing Brands by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,746,351 shares of the company's stock worth $131,570,000 after purchasing an additional 198,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas J. Cornille sold 3,192 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.13, for a total transaction of $239,814.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,836 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,218.68. This trade represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 44,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $3,423,545.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 938,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,608,418.09. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 221,828 shares of company stock worth $16,917,365. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

BellRing Brands Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of BellRing Brands stock traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.47. 290,223 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,292,859. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.37. BellRing Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $48.06 and a one year high of $80.67.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. BellRing Brands had a net margin of 13.32% and a negative return on equity of 130.14%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BellRing Brands, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BellRing Brands announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 6th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BellRing Brands in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of BellRing Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.25.

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.