Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Boosts Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,548 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 389 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.4% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 112.2% in the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 195,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,339,000 after acquiring an additional 103,271 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after acquiring an additional 86,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.45. 5,652,608 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,377,775. The firm has a market cap of $55.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.77. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Monster Beverage from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.68.

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.