Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Position Decreased by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 75,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew 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 last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $57.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.38. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $59.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.