National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 564,737 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,815 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $29,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 75,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 17,911 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,716,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,905,000 after purchasing an additional 818,476 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 62,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,291,000 after buying an additional 10,445 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,445,000 after buying an additional 4,231,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 405,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after buying an additional 13,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 research report on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.11.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $59.36 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.58. The company has a market capitalization of $57.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $59.42. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.