Cibc World Markets Corp Increases Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 297,842 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,045 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the third quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.5% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 198,316 shares of company stock worth $10,931,740. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $56.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $61.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.85.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 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.