Swedbank AB Reduces Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 14.1%, selling 21,445 shares to end the first quarter with 130,974 shares valued at approximately $7.67 million.
• Multiple large investors have adjusted their stakes in Monster Beverage, indicating ongoing interest with some increasing their positions, such as Migdal Insurance which boosted its stake by 37.1%.
• Analyst ratings for Monster Beverage are varied, with recent target prices set between $60.00 and $74.00, and a consensus rating of 'Hold' based on analyst outlooks.

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,974 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,445 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company's stock worth $18,475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,465 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock worth $3,915,000 after acquiring an additional 28,932 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock worth $75,455,000 after acquiring an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 423,548 shares of the company's stock worth $24,786,000 after acquiring an additional 15,493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MNST stock traded down $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,712,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,033,845. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $67.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.06 and a 200-day moving average of $60.78. The company has a market cap of $62.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Capital restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Twelve research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.19.

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.