Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6,912.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,707 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 288,533 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,898,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,365,000 after purchasing an additional 596,078 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.26.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.65 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The company has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.18.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its 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 business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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.