Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 932.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 322,484 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 291,257 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $16,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 93.9% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,148.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,596,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388,798 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at about $81,757,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 41.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,528,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 34.1% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,859,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234,718 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.68.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.72. 805,039 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,960,458. The firm has a market cap of $55.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.09. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company 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.