Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 97.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,667,511 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 825,116 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage makes up 2.3% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC owned 0.17% of Monster Beverage worth $90,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 95.8% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AXS Investments LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 64.60% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.37. 2,486,772 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,372,147. The company has a market cap of $59.05 billion, a PE ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.31. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $60.47.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 21.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. MKM Partners increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $6,308,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,141,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,451,375.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 56,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total value of $3,305,239.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,027,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,447,270.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $6,308,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,141,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,451,375.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 166,318 shares of company stock valued at $9,620,379. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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: Finished Product, Concentrate, and Other. It offers carbonated non-carbonated energy drinks, ready-to-drink iced teas and juice drinks, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters, and sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices, and flavored sparkling beverages.