HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MNST. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.06. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $60.13. The firm has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

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.