Global Retirement Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Global Retirement Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,502 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,208 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,048,000 after buying an additional 1,229,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,490,000 after buying an additional 473,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,898,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,365,000 after buying an additional 596,078 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNST. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total value of $526,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at $3,944,748.60. The trade was a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $53.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.18 and a 200 day moving average of $50.98. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22.

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.