Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Stake Cut by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,742 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1.3% in the third quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $55.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.48. The firm has a market cap of $53.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $61.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. 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.