E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 4,083 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,043 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,083 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased 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 last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $55.69 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.39. The company has a market capitalization of $54.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its 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). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.