Amundi Acquires 1,246,114 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Amundi has increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 69.8%, obtaining an additional 1,246,114 shares, bringing its total to 3,032,591 shares valued at approximately $180.9 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Monster Beverage, with Citigroup and Morgan Stanley updating their targets to $74.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the stock.
• Monster Beverage reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, exceeding estimates, and showing an 11.1% revenue increase year-over-year, signaling strong financial performance.

Amundi increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 69.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,032,591 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,246,114 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.31% of Monster Beverage worth $180,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 21.2% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.03. 1,042,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,029,086. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $61.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.26.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.