LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys New Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. has acquired a new position in Monster Beverage Corporation by purchasing 30,000 shares valued at approximately $1.879 million.
• Major investment firms have increased their stakes in Monster Beverage, with institutional investors now holding 72.36% of the company’s stock.
• Wall Street analysts set various price targets for Monster Beverage, with a consensus price target of $65.19, as analysts rate the stock with a mix of Buy, Hold, and Sell ratings.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,879,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.19.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $67.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $67.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.60.

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MNST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.