Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Has $2.48 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 30.9%, selling 18,945 shares during the first quarter, now holding 42,374 shares valued at approximately $2.48 million.
• A significant increase in investment was noted as Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6%, acquiring over 3 million shares during the same period.
• Monster Beverage's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.52, beating expectations, with revenue increasing by 11.1% year-over-year to $2.11 billion.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,374 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,945 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 259.2% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:MNST traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.64. 4,845,731 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,720,911. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.59. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The firm has a market cap of $63.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

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.