Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $685,000 Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,025 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.5% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 153,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,021,000 after purchasing an additional 13,793 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 55,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $421,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 260.2% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 20,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 14,984 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $59.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.