Danske Bank A S Sells 33,106 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Danske Bank reduced its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.5%, selling 33,106 shares and ending the quarter with 354,441 shares valued at $27,175,000 per its latest 13F filing.
• Other institutional investors notably increased exposure—Massachusetts Financial Services jumped to 6,191,407 shares (a 7,360.7% increase)—and institutional ownership of MNST is 72.36%.
• Analysts are generally positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a $84.55 price target; Monster beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, posting 17.6% year-over-year revenue growth and a ~$75.4B market cap.

Danske Bank A S lessened its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 354,441 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,106 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $27,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock worth $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company's stock worth $2,538,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,066 shares of the company's stock worth $338,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,575 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 262.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,327,626 shares of the company's stock worth $178,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MNST shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MNST stock opened at $77.12 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $87.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.62 and a 200-day moving average of $75.75.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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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