Ninety One North America Inc. Has $7.79 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Ninety One North America Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,165 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,548 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. State Street Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 98.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,001,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,434,000 after buying an additional 16,863,544 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 103.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,361,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $773,729,000 after buying an additional 7,287,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $363,374,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after buying an additional 3,296,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,747,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,905,000 after buying an additional 2,407,774 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.89 on Thursday, reaching $53.36. 1,693,440 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,257,099. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.30 and a 200-day moving average of $55.50. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company has a market capitalization of $55.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.