Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Stake Cut by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,919 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after buying an additional 1,383,914 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,543,000 after buying an additional 734,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,732,000 after buying an additional 825,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,146,000 after buying an additional 493,914 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, CICC Research raised Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $63.69 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $64.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.