Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Has $486,000 Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,240 shares of the company’s stock after selling 485 shares during the period. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after buying an additional 2,480,291 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $106,882,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at $73,600,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.31 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $60.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.09.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

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.