Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,439,495 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,995 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $90,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at about $374,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 213,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,520,000 after buying an additional 4,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 202.7% during the 1st quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 7,864 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $69.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.59 and a 200 day moving average of $63.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $72.62.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Company 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.