Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 211.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,975 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,415 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,638,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,467,000 after purchasing an additional 243,401 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,211,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,238,000 after buying an additional 305,086 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 33.5% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 61.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,307,482 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 2.2 %

MNST traded down $1.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,444,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,403,700. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.59. The company has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. HSBC lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.79.

Monster Beverage Company 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.