Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 569,505 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. has reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 18.6%, selling 569,505 shares and retaining approximately 2,493,846 shares valued at $156 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about Monster Beverage, with Goldman Sachs raising its target price from $67.00 to $72.00 and most analysts giving the stock a Hold rating.
• Monster Beverage reported an EPS of $0.52 for the past quarter, exceeding expectations and showing an 11.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,493,846 shares of the company's stock after selling 569,505 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.26% of Monster Beverage worth $156,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $29,000. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Roth Capital reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $64.13 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $67.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.84. The company has a market cap of $62.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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.

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