iA Global Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 26.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 157,381 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,513 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $43,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.4%

MNST opened at $66.83 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.19. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $70.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.10.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.30% 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.