Cerity Partners LLC Sells 138,221 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 37.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,092 shares of the company’s stock after selling 138,221 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 467.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,996,000 after acquiring an additional 5,641,160 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth $157,063,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,121,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.05.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 in the last ninety days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $77.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.91 and a 200-day moving average of $67.39. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $78.31.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.