Aviva PLC Purchases 1,117,515 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4,106.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,144,730 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,117,515 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.12% of Monster Beverage worth $71,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $365,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 35.3% during the second quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 202.7% during the first quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 7,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.1% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,191,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,054,000 after purchasing an additional 22,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $69.73 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $72.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.59 and its 200 day moving average is $63.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.09 billion, a PE ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.