FIL Ltd Trims Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

FIL Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 562,008 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,705 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Monster Beverage worth $29,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company's stock worth $251,445,000 after buying an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Monster Beverage by 21.0% during 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 during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.44.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST traded down $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.44. 1,636,034 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,092,069. The company has a market cap of $56.87 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $54.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.97.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 over the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.