KBC Group NV Has $92.98 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its stake in Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) by 25% in Q4, buying 242,174 shares to hold 1,212,776 shares valued at about $92.98 million, or roughly 0.12% of the company.
• Monster beat quarterly expectations with $0.51 EPS vs. $0.49 expected and revenue of $2.10 billion (vs. $2.04 billion), with revenue up 17.6% year-over-year and strong profitability (ROE 27.38%, net margin 22.97%).
• About 72.36% of the stock is held by institutions; analysts show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (14 Buys, 8 Holds, 1 Sell) with a consensus target price of $83.38.

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,212,776 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 242,174 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.12% of Monster Beverage worth $92,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.38.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $74.93 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $77.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.06. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $57.01 and a one year high of $87.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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