Park National Corp OH Trims Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH significantly reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 51.6%, selling 8,294 shares and now holding 7,765 shares worth approximately $486,000.
• Monster Beverage's recent quarterly earnings report showed a 20% increase in earnings per share, reporting $0.52 and surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.48.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets for Monster Beverage, with Citigroup and Morgan Stanley both increasing their targets to $74.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Park National Corp OH trimmed its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,765 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,294 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 114.5% in the second quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 9,161 shares of the company's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 4,891 shares during the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $1,830,000. Cim LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 312,094 shares of the company's stock worth $18,264,000 after purchasing an additional 5,943 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $9,249,000. Finally, Carderock Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.4% in the first quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,768 shares of the company's stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 8,522 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MNST opened at $64.69 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $66.75. The stock's 50 day moving average is $61.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.50. The firm has a market cap of $63.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MNST. Citigroup raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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 report 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 report on Friday, June 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage 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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