Cornerstone Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,100 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.4% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 112.2% during the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 195,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,339,000 after buying an additional 103,271 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after buying an additional 86,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.81. 1,236,444 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,556,855. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week high of $61.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.15. The company has a market cap of $56.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.77 EPS 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.