Prudential Financial Inc. Has $18.97 Million Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 360,818 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,960 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $18,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $60.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.28. The firm has a market cap of $56.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.