Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 17,229 Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock worth $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock worth $451,543,000 after buying an additional 734,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,231,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,716,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,905,000 after acquiring an additional 818,476 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,655,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,117,653. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $60.34. The company has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The company's 50-day moving average is $54.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.92.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.11.

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.