Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Lecap Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 36.1% during Q2, leaving it with 23,536 shares valued at approximately $1.47 million.
• In contrast, several large investors, including Pinnacle Associates Ltd. and Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd., increased their holdings, indicating continued interest in the company.
• Analysts have positive outlooks for Monster Beverage, with several firms, including Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, raising their target prices, suggesting potential growth for its stock.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 36.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,536 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,297 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MNST. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.19.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $67.43 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.19 and a 200 day moving average of $61.42. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $67.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.

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