Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,762 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 250.9% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480,291 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $106,882,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $73,600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,178,107. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 198,316 shares of company stock valued at $10,931,740. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $56.21 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.85. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $61.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.