Neo Ivy Capital Management Purchases New Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 33,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,755,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,223 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,705 shares of the company's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,321 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.81.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 217,112 shares of company stock worth $12,033,838 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $64.24. 5,266,259 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,933,942. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $64.37. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.65. The company has a market cap of $62.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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.