The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $21.57 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 431,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,747 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 249,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 253,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,617,000 after acquiring an additional 48,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $963,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $51.59 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.80. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.85.

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.