Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 2,253 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Rating) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,781 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,253 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 293.1% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,100,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,294,000 after buying an additional 7,530,547 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 6.4% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,494,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,548,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,974 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $146,334,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Monster Beverage by 19.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,395,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 10.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 75.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 36,250 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total transaction of $3,540,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,491.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 36,250 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total value of $3,540,175.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,491.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 74,998 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.96, for a total transaction of $7,421,802.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,038 shares in the company, valued at $2,081,920.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,504 shares of company stock valued at $12,217,237 over the last three months. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 1st. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $105.00 to $113.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.06.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $100.04 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $71.78 and a 52-week high of $104.65. The stock has a market cap of $52.20 billion, a PE ratio of 44.27, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Monster Beverage

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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, and Other. It offers carbonated energy drinks, non-carbonated, ready-to-drink iced teas, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters, and sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices, and flavored sparkling beverages.