Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 900 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,268 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,431,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,482 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 33.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,782,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,261,000 after buying an additional 948,133 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 32.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,823,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,492,000 after buying an additional 686,889 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 78.2% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,230,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,170,000 after buying an additional 540,285 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.11.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,843,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,376,611. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.60.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.