GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Buys New Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 184,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,688,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,101,000 after purchasing an additional 7,780 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $423,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $557,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,262,180 shares of the company's stock worth $66,340,000 after buying an additional 77,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 217,112 shares of company stock worth $12,033,838 over the last quarter. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.42. 1,550,462 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,882,886. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $64.45. 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 company has a market cap of $61.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average price is $59.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.78.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.81.

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.