Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after buying an additional 2,480,291 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $73,600,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $54.65 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.27 and a 200-day moving average of $51.18.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its 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 return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total value of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MNST. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.26.

About Monster Beverage

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.