Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $225,000 Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 419 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.11.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.51.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

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.