Cigna Investments Inc. New Decreases Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Cigna Investments Inc. New lowered its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 443 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 156.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 114,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after acquiring an additional 69,674 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 128.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 11,528 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at $1,063,000. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.1% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 121,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,080,000 after purchasing an additional 22,823 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.7 %

Monster Beverage stock opened at $52.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company has a market cap of $51.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.68.

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.