Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Purchases New Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,837,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,042 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,182,000 after buying an additional 37,391 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,469,000 after acquiring an additional 440,962 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 93.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,859,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234,718 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.5 %

Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $53.08. The stock had a trading volume of 574,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,943,902. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.41.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.68.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.