PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,753 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $14,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 467.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641,160 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at about $157,063,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,121,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,907,000 after buying an additional 1,948,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MNST. Evercore lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $83.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.45. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.93 and a 1-year high of $83.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.70 and its 200 day moving average is $71.34.

Monster Beverage Company 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.