Peloton Wealth Strategists Purchases 2,550 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Peloton Wealth Strategists grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,395 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,550 shares during the quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,101,000 after purchasing an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,124,000 after purchasing an additional 15,611 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 151,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,897,000 after purchasing an additional 9,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,090,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Argus boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.53.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.08.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.