Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 250,232 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,338 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $13,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,642,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,371,000 after purchasing an additional 143,871 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $57.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.41. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $59.56.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.