Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,572,488 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 542,198 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.37% of Monster Beverage worth $273,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $73.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $72.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.44. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.73 and a twelve month high of $87.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.03.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MNST. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.95.

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.