American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 117,889 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 322,022 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,889 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,929,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,188,004,000 after purchasing an additional 900,479 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,450,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,656,847,000 after purchasing an additional 385,692 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,165,292,000 after purchasing an additional 742,518 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,983,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,064 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Argus increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.14.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $75.72 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.00 and a fifty-two week high of $87.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.10. The company has a market cap of $73.98 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.