National Bank of Canada FI Trims Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 54.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 505,372 shares of the company’s stock after selling 596,835 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $28,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.9% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 5,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $49.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,273,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,354,882. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.48. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $47.13 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm reduced their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,820,413.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.