Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 64,684 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stock holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 1.8% in the first quarter, selling 64,684 shares and owning approximately 3.44 million shares valued at $201.2 million.
• Several other hedge funds have changed their positions, with Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increasing its stake by 37.1% during the same period.
• Analysts have generally given Monster Beverage a positive outlook, with numerous upgrades to price targets, including Citigroup raising theirs from $70 to $74, and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $65.10.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,438,935 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,684 shares during the period. Monster Beverage makes up approximately 1.0% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Monster Beverage worth $201,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 94.0% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,174,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,725,000 after acquiring an additional 568,953 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,082,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 467.2% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 78,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,601,000 after acquiring an additional 64,767 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.5%

Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $62.02. The stock had a trading volume of 4,328,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,093,673. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. The firm's 50 day moving average is $61.60 and its 200 day moving average is $59.49. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $66.75.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Profile

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.