Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 51.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,802,322 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,294,929 shares during the period. Monster Beverage accounts for 1.2% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $255,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 566,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,109,000 after buying an additional 49,135 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 27.6% in the third quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 4,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.2% in the third quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 15.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 134,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.86.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $80.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.06. The company has a market cap of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.46. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $83.24.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.