21,501 Shares in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 21,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 13,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 168,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,830,000 after acquiring an additional 13,416 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 41,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 12,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $442,642,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $57.86 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.41. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $59.56.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.