Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 468,473 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,942,695 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 468,473 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Monster Beverage worth $121,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,360,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,094,207,000 after purchasing an additional 574,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,292,000 after acquiring an additional 742,518 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,712,000 after buying an additional 563,353 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.9% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,944,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,282,000 after acquiring an additional 418,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $497,157,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Argus upgraded Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Capital reiterated 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.62.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $75.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.61. The company has a market cap of $73.32 billion, a PE ratio of 46.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $75.27.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced 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. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS 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.