Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 29,508 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Rating) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,781 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,508 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $12,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 225,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,022,000 after acquiring an additional 21,403 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 78.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 24,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 10,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $97.00 to $110.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $109.00 to $107.00 in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.00, for a total value of $4,550,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 310,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,232,204. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 26,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.73, for a total transaction of $2,386,108.27. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,349,997.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.00, for a total value of $4,550,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 310,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,232,204. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 117,028 shares of company stock worth $10,522,704. Insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $91.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.75. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $71.78 and a 52 week high of $99.89.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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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, and Other. It offers carbonated energy drinks, non-carbonated, ready-to-drink iced teas, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters, and sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices, and flavored sparkling beverages.