Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 15,699 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 1,104.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,121 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,699 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.4% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,210 shares of the company's stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 112.2% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 195,272 shares of the company's stock worth $10,339,000 after acquiring an additional 103,271 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,378,000 after acquiring an additional 86,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,268 shares of the company's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,319,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,578,461. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $61.22. The firm has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.92.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.