Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703,353 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,840 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Monster Beverage worth $36,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the third quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $55.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.51. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

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.