WBI Investments LLC Sells 25,901 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

WBI Investments LLC cut its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 76.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,901 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $419,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth about $26,086,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 34,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $74.09 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $54.73 and a one year high of $87.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.73. The stock has a market cap of $72.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.95.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.