LGT Group Foundation Decreases Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

LGT Group Foundation trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 50.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,804 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,820 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,175 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 563,353 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,732,000 after purchasing an additional 825,489 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake 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 worth $284,146,000 after purchasing an additional 493,914 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.2%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $64.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $66.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.31.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MNST. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.10.

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.