3,844 Shares in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Bought by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,475,000 after purchasing an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 28,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 8,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.90.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $64.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.12. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.19 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The company has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share 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.