Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 10,336 Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $62.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $62.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.34 and its 200 day moving average is $54.17. The company has a market cap of $60.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,178,107. This trade represents a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MNST. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus 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.