Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Buys 36,909 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 68.9%, now holding 90,450 shares valued at approximately $5.29 million.
• Several analysts have changed their ratings on Monster Beverage, with JPMorgan raising their price target to $68.00 while Rothschild downgraded it to $60.00, indicating diverse opinions on the stock's outlook.
• In the most recent quarter, Monster Beverage reported a quarterly revenue increase of 11.1% and earnings per share of $0.52, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 68.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,450 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,909 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.10.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.7%

MNST traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,413,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,157,191. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $66.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.65 and its 200-day moving average is $58.80.

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