Simplicity Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 97.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,870 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,389 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,313,000 after buying an additional 1,151,175 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,712,000 after purchasing an additional 563,353 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 8,944,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,282,000 after purchasing an additional 418,918 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,901,000 after purchasing an additional 73,737 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $68.15 on Wednesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $68.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.75. The firm has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS 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.