abrdn plc Purchases 127,963 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

abrdn plc raised its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 312,309 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,963 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.4% during the third quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.11.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $54.33 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $47.13 and a 52-week high of $61.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.06 and a 200-day moving average of $55.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share 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.