Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $575.02 Million Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,940,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 647,819 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $575,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $442,642,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,445,000 after buying an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % 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 three months. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $57.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $59.56. 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 fifty day moving average of $52.19 and a 200 day moving average of $52.39.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.