Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $22.13 Million Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 22.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 328,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,865 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $22,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.3% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 68,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,607,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 767,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,652,000 after acquiring an additional 136,362 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 172,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,589,000 after purchasing an additional 14,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $82.00 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $82.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.59. The firm has a market cap of $80.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The company’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.62.

Monster Beverage Profile

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.