Marshall Wace LLP Grows Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,094 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,396 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $59.15 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $60.34. The stock has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.89.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other 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 value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.