Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,525 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Argus increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total value of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MNST opened at $54.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share 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.