First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $412,000 Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 45.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,038 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,824 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barden Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,208 shares of the company's stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,464 shares of the company's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 10.9% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 115,944 shares of the company's stock worth $6,785,000 after purchasing an additional 11,396 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth $247,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $63.22. 1,879,501 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,072,156. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.39. 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 capitalization of $61.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $64.45.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 89,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,796 shares of company stock valued at $5,399,838. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.