Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 68,173 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,162 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at approximately $679,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $269,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.1%

MNST opened at $67.09 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $67.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.70. The company has a market cap of $65.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.54.

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

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.