BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Purchases 196,760 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 222.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 285,318 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 196,760 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $19,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $332,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 33.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the third quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 26.2% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $81.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $79.87 billion, a PE ratio of 46.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.91. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $46.04 and a one year high of $83.24.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.