SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,011 shares of the company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,716,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,905,000 after purchasing an additional 818,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MNST stock opened at $59.36 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.58. 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 $59.42. The firm has a market cap of $57.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.05, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered 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. Two research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.11.

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.