BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Grows Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 186.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 84,525 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,006 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $497,157,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,942,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% during the first quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,880.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233,286 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.6%

MNST stock opened at $64.39 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.83. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $66.75. The firm has a market cap of $62.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.