Capital International Ltd. CA Increases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Capital International Ltd. CA raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,335 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,956 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $11,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.89.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.86. 2,242,504 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,057,734. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $60.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.26. 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). The company 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current 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.