iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 26.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,381 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,513 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at $365,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,475,000 after purchasing an additional 7,465 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 8,209 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MNST shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.10.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $66.83 on Monday. The company 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 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $70.72. The stock has a market cap of $65.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Monster Beverage

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.