Bank of Montreal Can Sells 377,593 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,022,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 377,593 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $53,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $630,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.1% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 182,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,502,000 after acquiring an additional 13,649 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,124,000 after acquiring an additional 15,611 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 60,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 5.9 %

Monster Beverage stock opened at $58.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day moving average of $52.84. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $60.34. 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 company has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64.

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 return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, April 2nd. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 in the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Company 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.