NEOS Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,698 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,619 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 64,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after buying an additional 13,246 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,218,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 89,049 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 69,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,645,000 after purchasing an additional 6,520 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 76,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 11,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $58.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $57.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $60.09.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its 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). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.