Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,736,804 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341,168 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Monster Beverage worth $91,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MNST. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 197,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,307,000 after purchasing an additional 4,651 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 273,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,279,000 after purchasing an additional 3,525 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 25,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sather Financial Group Inc increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 1,056,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,110,000 after purchasing an additional 46,990 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $55.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.76. The stock has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.21. 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 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 186,316 shares of company stock worth $10,277,740 over the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Monster Beverage 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.