HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases Shares of 13,068 Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $772,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,682,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,738,000 after purchasing an additional 550,293 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,466 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,622,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,557,000 after purchasing an additional 330,740 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $517,035,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374 in the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.79.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $48.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.00 and a 200-day moving average of $55.58. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.