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

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $82.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.59, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.46. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $82.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.66.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% 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. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.62.

About Monster Beverage

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.