Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,071 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $8,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 12.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 5,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 197,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,307,000 after acquiring an additional 4,651 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.7% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 64,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,384,000 after acquiring an additional 6,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 273,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.34 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $61.21. The stock has a market cap of $52.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released 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 return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

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.