Panagora Asset Management Inc. Has $61.76 Million Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2,700.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 985,934 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 950,725 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $61,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 449.4% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 21,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 17,974 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 78.7% in the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 6,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 329,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,615,000 after purchasing an additional 106,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,450,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,656,847,000 after purchasing an additional 385,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Argus raised Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value 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. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $75.03 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.83. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $75.27. The firm has a market cap of $73.30 billion, a PE ratio of 46.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.