Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires 15,964 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 25.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,739 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,964 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 57,289 shares of the company's stock worth $3,011,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 191,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,055,000 after purchasing an additional 16,689 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,303 shares of the company's stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,340 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, 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 own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $59.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.96. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $64.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.91.

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.

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