Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 80,242 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,307,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80,242 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $289,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 222.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 50,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 34,697 shares during the period. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.4% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 108,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,823,000 after buying an additional 47,165 shares during the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 449.4% during the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 21,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 17,974 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 87.8% in the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 15,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $59,170,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $76.99 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.17 and a 1 year high of $87.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.25. The company has a market cap of $75.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.14.

About Monster Beverage

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.