Pitcairn Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Two equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.11.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 4.3 %

MNST stock opened at $57.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.67. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $60.34. 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 (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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.