7,755 Shares in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Purchased by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $365,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,475,000 after buying an additional 7,465 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,455,000 after buying an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 8,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.10.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.4%

MNST stock opened at $66.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.19. The stock has a market cap of $65.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $70.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage 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.