Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 15,493 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 423,548 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,493 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $24,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock worth $451,543,000 after acquiring an additional 734,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company's stock worth $386,732,000 after acquiring an additional 825,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company's stock worth $284,146,000 after acquiring an additional 493,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 2.2%

MNST stock opened at $62.20 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.00. The company has a market capitalization of $60.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.78. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share 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.

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