Credit Agricole S A Trims Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A has significantly reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 65.9%, now holding 125,919 shares valued at approximately $7.37 million.
• Other institutional investors like Twin Capital Management and Cambridge Investment Research have increased their holdings in Monster Beverage, indicating a mixed sentiment among investors.
• After a recent earnings report where Monster Beverage beat consensus estimates, analysts have updated their price targets, with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup setting targets of $74.00 and $74.00 respectively.

Credit Agricole S A cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 65.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,919 shares of the company's stock after selling 243,715 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $497,157,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock worth $179,267,000 after buying an additional 3,004,391 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $110,942,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% during the first quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock worth $303,728,000 after buying an additional 1,897,466 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5,880.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254,259 shares of the company's stock worth $73,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,286 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MNST shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MNST traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.71. 1,093,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,124,850. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.37. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $60.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

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.