Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 818,476 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,716,603 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 818,476 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.48% of Monster Beverage worth $247,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,101,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,124,000 after buying an additional 15,611 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,090,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth approximately $630,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $59.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.53. 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 capitalization of $57.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $59.07.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.