Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,086 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,522 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 over the last quarter. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MNST opened at $57.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.06. 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 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.