Czech National Bank Boosts Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,828 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,007 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,485,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,926,000 after acquiring an additional 19,707 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,531 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5,880.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,286 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 18,025.0% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 510.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 6,046 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,796 shares of company stock valued at $8,688,558. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $63.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.95. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.81.

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.