Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Trims Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,842 shares of the company’s stock after selling 431 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in 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 lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of MNST opened at $58.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.33. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $60.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.