Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,992 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,151 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $497,157,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% in the first quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock worth $303,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,466 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 34.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,278,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872,075 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 69.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,032,591 shares of the company's stock worth $180,894,000 after buying an additional 1,246,114 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company's stock worth $3,791,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 2.2%

MNST stock opened at $68.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $70.06. The firm's 50-day moving average is $64.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.12.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage 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.

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