Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 449,842 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 31.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,866,129 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 449,842 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.19% of Monster Beverage worth $98,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 259.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 217,112 shares of company stock valued at $12,033,838. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.81.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MNST traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $63.36. 3,508,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,940,639. The firm has a market cap of $61.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $63.49. 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's fifty day moving average price is $59.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.58.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The business's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current 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.