Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1,148.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,596,888 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,388,798 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $135,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,837,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,042 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,182,000 after acquiring an additional 37,391 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,469,000 after acquiring an additional 440,962 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 93.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,859,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,718 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,723,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,981,063. The stock has a market cap of $55.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.09. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.68.

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.