Huntington National Bank Purchases 9,419 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Huntington National Bank grew its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 756.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,664 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,419 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% during 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 increased 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 worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the 4th 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. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company's stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,178,107. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment 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, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.11.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST traded down $0.81 on Thursday, reaching $57.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,749,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,094,192. The stock has a market cap of $55.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $60.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $53.94 and its 200 day moving average is $52.84.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage 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.