Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stake Raised by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage Corporation by 36.3%, purchasing an additional 22,895 shares, bringing its total holdings to 86,045 shares valued at approximately $5,035,000.
• Monster Beverage reported earnings of $0.52 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and generated $2.11 billion in revenue for the quarter, reflecting an 11.1% year-over-year growth.
• Research analysts have set various price targets for Monster Beverage, with Wells Fargo & Company issuing a target of $73.00 and Morgan Stanley adjusting theirs to $74.00, indicating a generally favorable outlook.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,045 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 22,895 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 2.4% in 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 stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the first 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the first 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 shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 423,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,786,000 after purchasing an additional 15,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.41. 4,163,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,363,868. The stock has a market cap of $60.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.66. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $66.75.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current 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.