Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stock Bought by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 103.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,286 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,332 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,770,004,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 13,105,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,444,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175,047 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,102,000 after acquiring an additional 99,168 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,637,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,465,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $45.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.01. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $32.94 and a 52 week high of $50.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.02% and a net margin of 23.08%. The business’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $49.50 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.86.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation is a global beverage company focused primarily on the development, marketing, sale and distribution of energy drinks. Its portfolio includes the flagship Monster Energy brand, along with products marketed under brands such as NOS, Full Throttle, Reign, Burn and Mother. The company offers a range of energy drinks in different flavors and formulations, including products positioned for performance, fitness and everyday consumption.

The company traces its origins to Hansen Natural Corporation, which was founded in 1935 and changed its name to Monster Beverage Corporation in 2012 as the Monster Energy brand became increasingly central to its business.