Knuff & Co LLC Trims Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Knuff & Co LLC trimmed its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,685 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage comprises 1.4% of Knuff & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 222.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 50,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after buying an additional 34,697 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 108,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,823,000 after acquiring an additional 47,165 shares during the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 449.4% during the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 21,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 17,974 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 87.8% during the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 15,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $76.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.22 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.17 and a 52-week high of $87.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.16 and a 200 day moving average of $73.25.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $73.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.14.

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.