Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,235 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,911 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.2 %

MNST stock opened at $57.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $59.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.41.

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

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.