AIA Group Ltd Sells 18,669 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

AIA Group Ltd decreased its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,669 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 276.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.11.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $53.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.24 and a 200-day moving average of $55.49. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.