Sei Investments Co. Buys 104,118 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 44.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 340,131 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,118 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $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 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MNST shares. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $58.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.33. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $60.09. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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.