Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 53,969 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.3% in 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 stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,090,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $557,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,178,107. This represents a 3.89% 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 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of MNST stock traded up $1.33 on Thursday, reaching $62.33. 6,752,714 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,950,120. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $58.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.11. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $62.46. 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 has a market capitalization of $60.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

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.