Assetmark Inc. Boosts Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 317,794 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $16,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the third 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 during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480,291 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the third 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 during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth approximately $73,600,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,789 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ MNST opened at $55.69 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.39. The stock has a market cap of $54.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-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.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MNST. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

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.