Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 75,723 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,723 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $16,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 774 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.2 %

MNST opened at $53.73 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.60. The stock has a market cap of $55.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $47.13 and a 12 month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.11.

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.