United Services Automobile Association Lowers Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

United Services Automobile Association lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MNST. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,490,000 after buying an additional 473,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,371,000 after buying an additional 143,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MNST opened at $57.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.18. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $60.13. The company has a market capitalization of $56.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. 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 (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MNST. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.