Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $92.52 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,580,943 shares of the company's stock after selling 329,687 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.16% of Monster Beverage worth $92,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 259.2% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 127.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 541.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.01. The company had a trading volume of 4,499,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,124,780. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $64.45. The firm has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CICC Research raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.05.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 8.30% of the company's stock.

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.