Captrust Financial Advisors Grows Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,036 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,167 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.42.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $60.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $62.46. The firm has a market cap of $58.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Insiders own 8.30% 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.