Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,138 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,985,000 after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,688,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,278,000 after purchasing an additional 14,510 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $63.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.79. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $64.45. The firm has a market cap of $61.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.05.

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.