Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 419 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 419 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 98.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,001,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,434,000 after purchasing an additional 16,863,544 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,005,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,397,411,000 after purchasing an additional 504,239 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 103.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,361,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $773,729,000 after purchasing an additional 7,287,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 10,071,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,749,000 after purchasing an additional 912,942 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MNST. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $61.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal 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.