Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Holdings Lowered by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,890,141 shares of the company's stock after selling 144,948 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.50% of Monster Beverage worth $286,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $251,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,575,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,942,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MNST. UBS Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, CICC Research upgraded Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST traded down $0.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $62.85. 4,267,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,992,142. The stock has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.36 and a 200 day moving average of $56.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Monster Beverage

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.