Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 269,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,403 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,175 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,712,000 after buying an additional 563,353 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $497,157,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,901,000 after purchasing an additional 73,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,146,000 after buying an additional 493,914 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MNST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Twelve equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $62.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.37. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $66.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% 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.