ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,203,470 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 188,903 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Monster Beverage worth $63,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MNST shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.50.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1%

MNST traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.99. 5,329,786 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,960,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.34. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $63.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for 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 company's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current 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.