Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $9.49 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 180,541 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,969 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,101,000 after acquiring an additional 7,780 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,090,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $423,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $557,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. CICC Research upgraded Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MNST traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.86. 8,363,444 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,978,827. The company's 50 day moving average is $58.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.25. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $62.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $61.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.