DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 29,682 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,127 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,682 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $10,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 98.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,001,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,836,434,000 after purchasing an additional 16,863,544 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,005,150 shares of the company's stock worth $2,397,411,000 after purchasing an additional 504,239 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company's stock worth $1,033,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 103.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,361,510 shares of the company's stock worth $773,729,000 after purchasing an additional 7,287,123 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 10,071,948 shares of the company's stock worth $804,749,000 after purchasing an additional 912,942 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.94 on Wednesday, reaching $54.81. 6,271,859 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,238,738. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The business's 50-day moving average is $57.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.11.

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.