Franklin Resources Inc. Has $241.93 Million Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,603,013 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,488,077 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.47% of Monster Beverage worth $241,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.9 %

MNST opened at $59.04 on Wednesday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $59.07. The company has a market cap of $57.46 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.56 and a 200 day moving average of $52.53.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.