Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,984 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,900 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $25,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,262,000 after buying an additional 7,137,552 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 467.0% during 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% in the second 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. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $85.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.45. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.90 and a 52 week high of $87.38.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 22.97%.Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.90.

Key Stories Impacting Monster Beverage

Here are the key news stories impacting Monster Beverage this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and underlying momentum — MNST reported $0.51 EPS vs. $0.49 expected and $2.10B revenue vs. $2.04B expected; revenue rose ~17.6% YoY and margins expanded, driven by core energy?drink strength and international growth. This is the primary catalyst supporting the stock. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Multiple firms raised targets (examples: Jefferies and Citi to $100, Deutsche Bank/Wells Fargo/Piper Sandler to ~$94, Stifel/UBS raised targets into the low?$90s), signaling buy/overweight views that support further upside. Representative coverage of these moves is available. TickerReport: Analyst Moves
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and disclosures — Transcripts and highlights detail international expansion, segment trends and management commentary that investors will review for sustainability of growth; these items clarify future guidance but are information?driven rather than immediate catalysts. Earnings Call Transcript Yahoo: Call Highlights
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and mixed analyst views cap near?term gains — MNST trades at a high P/E (around 48x) and some large brokers maintain neutral/hold ratings or offer targets implying limited upside (JPMorgan’s target is lower than the current price), which can pressure the stock after a run. See current market summary for valuation context. MarketBeat: Stock Summary
• Negative Sentiment: High trading volume suggests profit?taking — Volume has run above average on the news day, consistent with short?term traders and some shareholders locking gains after the stock’s recent run toward its 12?month high.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.