3,277 Shares in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Bought by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 250.9% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480,291 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $106,882,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $73,600,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 186,316 shares of company stock valued at $10,277,740 over the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $55.09 on Monday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.80 and a 200 day moving average of $51.79. The firm has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS 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.