Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 10,785 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 18.8%, owning 68,020 shares worth approximately $3.98 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Monster Beverage's CFO recently sold 27,000 shares for $1.71 million, representing a 28.05% decrease in his position within the company.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Monster Beverage, with Bank of America setting a new target of $66.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,020 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,785 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock worth $179,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004,391 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $121,575,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,942,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock worth $303,728,000 after buying an additional 1,897,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock worth $897,012,000 after buying an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.04. 4,114,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,746,050. The business's 50 day moving average is $62.00 and its 200-day moving average is $57.47. The company has a market capitalization of $59.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MNST. Redburn Atlantic lowered Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly 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. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.