Nomura Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 6.6%, selling 4,396 shares, leaving them with 61,863 shares valued at approximately $3.62 million.
• Monster Beverage's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with a reported $0.52 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.48, alongside a revenue of $2.11 billion.
• In recent analyst ratings, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Monster Beverage to a "hold" rating, while other analysts issued varied price targets, with most maintaining a "buy" or "hold" rating overall.

Nomura Holdings Inc. lowered its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,863 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,396 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 21.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. CICC Research raised Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $63.45. 4,446,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,464,991. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.97.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.