Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,360,899 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 574,275 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Monster Beverage worth $4,094,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,165,292,000 after purchasing an additional 742,518 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,712,000 after buying an additional 563,353 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised 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 acquiring an additional 418,918 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,901,000 after acquiring an additional 73,737 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $72.30 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.15. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $73.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.62.

Monster Beverage Company 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.