Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,568,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,100 shares during the period. Monster Beverage comprises 1.6% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Monster Beverage worth $82,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. BNP Paribas cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.1 %

MNST stock opened at $56.87 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $60.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.99.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.