Empirical Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Empirical Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,493 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 68,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,433,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 39,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total value of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MNST stock opened at $49.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.24. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

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.