Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.11.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $57.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $60.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.