Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 7.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,239 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,987 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,146,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 13.0% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 14.8% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 205,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,809,000 after purchasing an additional 26,482 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 51.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,802,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,934,000 after buying an additional 1,294,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 566,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,109,000 after buying an additional 49,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MNST. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $96.00 price target (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $80.04 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.13. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $83.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.