ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,005,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115,666 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $50,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth about $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 360.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.85.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $51.18 on Monday. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.11 and its 200 day moving average is $52.19. The stock has a market cap of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.41.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current 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.