LPL Financial LLC Purchases 117,162 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 924,246 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,162 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Monster Beverage worth $48,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. 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 worth $714,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $58.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.02 and its 200 day moving average is $52.33. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $60.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $57.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG 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 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 net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share 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.