Cerity Partners LLC Has $23.32 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 372,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140,549 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $23,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,360,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,094,207,000 after purchasing an additional 574,275 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,450,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,656,847,000 after purchasing an additional 385,692 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,292,000 after buying an additional 742,518 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,983,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,001,000 after buying an additional 1,829,064 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Monster Beverage by 4.9% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,944,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,282,000 after buying an additional 418,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $73.57 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.39. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $76.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.48.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 1st. Argus upgraded Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.45.

Monster Beverage 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.