Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 60,675 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 315.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,885 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,675 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,638,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,467,000 after acquiring an additional 243,401 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.2% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,211,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,238,000 after acquiring an additional 305,086 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 948,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 61.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Six investment 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, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.11.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.33. The stock had a trading volume of 6,943,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,377,882. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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.