Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,635,449 shares of the company’s stock after selling 202,037 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Monster Beverage worth $3,344,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,490,000 after buying an additional 473,418 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,371,000 after buying an additional 143,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 18.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,898,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,365,000 after acquiring an additional 596,078 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.84 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.25. 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 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.13. The firm has a market cap of $56.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

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.