Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,031 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,266 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $25,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 over the last quarter. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.4%

MNST stock opened at $82.00 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.66. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $82.19. The firm has a market cap of $80.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler set a $85.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.62.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.