Comerica Bank Sells 18,356 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Comerica Bank lessened its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,528 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,356 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $10,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,012,000 after buying an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,543,000 after buying an additional 734,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,732,000 after purchasing an additional 825,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company's stock worth $251,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.89.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MNST traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,693,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,238,732. The business's fifty day moving average is $57.53 and its 200 day moving average is $53.81. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $61.29. 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 $59.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.