Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 95.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 782,598 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 382,428 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $32,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 2,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 15,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 7,955 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 71,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 35,500 shares during the period. Bingham Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 102.4% in the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 126.3% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 85,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 47,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of MNST opened at $46.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $50.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 24.99% and a net margin of 22.66%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MNST. Zacks Research cut Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Monster Beverage from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $49.50 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.50 price objective (down from $97.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.07.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation develops, markets and sells energy drinks and other beverages. Its portfolio includes Monster Energy, Reign, NOS and Full Throttle, along with products in categories such as sports drinks, juices and alcoholic beverages. The company traces its roots to Hansen’s, a beverage business established in the 1930s. It introduced the Monster Energy brand in 2002 and adopted the Monster Beverage name in 2012. Based in Corona, California, Monster sells its products in the United States and internationally.