Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 91.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,497 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,117 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the second quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.9% during the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 in the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $76.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $71.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.00. The stock has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.48. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $77.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Piper Sandler set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.67.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.