Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 247.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 95,245 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,800 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 568.3% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 28,866 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 51.3% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.4% in the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 98,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,200,000 after acquiring an additional 8,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $76.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.33, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.48. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $77.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.96.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $73.00 price target (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.67.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.