Norinchukin Bank The Buys 4,473 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,675 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 95.0% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 23,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 11,674 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 29,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 7,412 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 172,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,052,000 after acquiring an additional 21,279 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,303,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,632,000 after purchasing an additional 400,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,503,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,150,000 after purchasing an additional 140,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8 %

MNST opened at $58.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $60.34. The stock has a market cap of $56.84 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.52 and a 200-day moving average of $53.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.