Legal & General Group Plc Has $384.68 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,715,076 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469,715 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.59% of Monster Beverage worth $384,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 222.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 50,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,385,000 after acquiring an additional 34,697 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 76.4% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 108,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,823,000 after purchasing an additional 47,165 shares during the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 449.4% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 21,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 17,974 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 87.8% in the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 15,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,170,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $77.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.74 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.15 and a 200-day moving average of $73.23. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.00 and a 52-week high of $87.38.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MNST shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.