Korea Investment CORP Sells 154,469 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Korea Investment CORP cut its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,593 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154,469 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $14,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,371,000 after purchasing an additional 143,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,898,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,365,000 after purchasing an additional 596,078 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,178,107. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $57.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $59.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $52.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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 boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.