Empirical Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 116.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,096 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.4% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 100,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 11,100 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 30.0% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 93,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,866,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 13.5% during the third quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 9,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 59.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 3,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $51.68 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.84.

Monster Beverage Profile

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.