Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Raises Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,638,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,467,000 after buying an additional 243,401 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.2% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,211,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,238,000 after buying an additional 305,086 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 33.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,782,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,261,000 after buying an additional 948,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 61.5% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,431,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,482 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.11.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.2 %

MNST stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,452,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,301,690. The company has a market cap of $55.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.57. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $47.13 and a 12 month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS 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.