Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,235 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,055 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15% 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 worth $11,484,440 over the last quarter. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST opened at $62.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $62.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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.