Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $70.72 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management sharply reduced its Monster Beverage stake by 72.7% in Q1, leaving it with 976,034 shares valued at about $70.7 million.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue of $2.32 billion topping forecasts; revenue also rose 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $500 million share buyback, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a price target of $89.35.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 72.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 976,034 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,596,454 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of Monster Beverage worth $70,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MNST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 9,251 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 55.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 151.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $95.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $96.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.47.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MNST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.35.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation NASDAQ: MNST is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company's product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen's Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.

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