25,142 Shares in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Bought by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 25,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,321,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company's stock worth $1,416,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company's stock worth $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company's stock worth $210,371,000 after purchasing an additional 143,871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were 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 have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.0 %

MNST stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.84. 4,687,427 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,720,771. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average of $52.18. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $60.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.83.

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.