Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 307,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,476 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 276.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $55.65 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.47. The firm has a market cap of $57.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.