Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 36,204 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,859,273 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Monster Beverage worth $116,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at $291,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.4% in the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 27.7% during the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 18,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 165.5% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 36,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 22,453 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.9% in the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.3%

MNST opened at $69.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.79. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $70.72.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MNST. UBS Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.43.

About Monster Beverage

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.