Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 1,027 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,829 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its position in Monster Beverage by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MNST shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.83 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $60.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day moving average of $52.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.