Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 47,453 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,612,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,453 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.11% of Monster Beverage worth $580,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $237,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,272,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,337,000 after acquiring an additional 23,818 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 44,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $52.17 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.31 and its 200 day moving average is $51.86. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.41. The stock has a market cap of $54.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.85.

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.