William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $191.99 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,652,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 776,745 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.38% of Monster Beverage worth $191,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 297,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,655,000 after purchasing an additional 34,045 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 554,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,153,000 after purchasing an additional 364,929 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 82,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,333,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $378,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 10,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $55.09 on Monday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.79. 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 firm has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 186,316 shares of company stock worth $10,277,740. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.