Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 211.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,975 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,415 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 112.2% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 195,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 103,271 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after buying an additional 86,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $1.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.15. The stock had a trading volume of 7,444,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,403,700. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.59. The stock has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial lowered Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.79.

About Monster Beverage

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.