Cresset Asset Management LLC Sells 39,414 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Cresset Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 84.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,414 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,101,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $423,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $557,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,262,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,340,000 after buying an additional 77,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $62.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market cap of $60.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $62.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MNST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.50.

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.