First National Trust Co Purchases New Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

First National Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 250.9% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480,291 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $106,882,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $73,600,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Citigroup upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $55.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.80 and its 200-day moving average is $51.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.21.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 186,316 shares of company stock valued at $10,277,740. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.