Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stake Cut by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 41.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,578 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,262,000 after buying an additional 7,137,552 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 467.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,996,000 after buying an additional 5,641,160 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at $157,063,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,121,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $81.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.82. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $83.24. The company has a market capitalization of $79.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.27, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (up from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, January 5th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 in the last quarter. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Company 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.