Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 699.3% during the 1st quarter, resulting in holdings worth $1.53 million.
• Monster Beverage reported earnings of $0.52 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving an 11.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Several analysts have issued new price targets for Monster Beverage, with Morgan Stanley increasing theirs from $70.00 to $74.00, indicating strong confidence in the stock's performance.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 699.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,192 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,915 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,465 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 28,932 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock worth $75,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 423,548 shares of the company's stock worth $24,786,000 after purchasing an additional 15,493 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage 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. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.73. 4,497,702 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,137,870. The firm has a market cap of $60.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.37. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $66.75.

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

About Monster Beverage

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.