Cynosure Group LLC Sells 1,487 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Cynosure Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,487 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $59.36 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $57.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.58. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $59.42.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities research 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.