Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,303,477 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 400,278 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.34% of Monster Beverage worth $173,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.39.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MNST stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $58.74. 427,140 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,015,874. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $56.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of Monster Beverage 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

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.