Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,742 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,363,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,156,000 after purchasing an additional 141,495 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $354,000. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 8,287 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.1 %

MNST opened at $55.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total value of $526,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Monster Beverage

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.