AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Raises Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,802,322 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,294,929 shares during the period. Monster Beverage makes up approximately 1.2% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.39% of Monster Beverage worth $255,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $80.92 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $83.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.06. The company has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Monster Beverage from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.86.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.