Logan Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Logan Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,977 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,916 shares during the quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,363,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,156,000 after buying an additional 141,495 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 151,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,980,000 after purchasing an additional 8,150 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA now owns 87,349 shares of the company's stock worth $4,591,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 2.2%

MNST traded up $1.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.33. 6,752,714 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,954,192. The stock has a market cap of $60.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $58.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.11. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $62.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.