Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $178,000 Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 19.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 848 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 93.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620,436 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,148.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,596,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,480,000 after buying an additional 2,388,798 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,757,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,528,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,465,000 after buying an additional 1,318,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,859,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $54.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.69 and its 200-day moving average is $51.03. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.