Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 610,467 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 48.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 652,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 610,467 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Monster Beverage worth $32,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after acquiring an additional 49,495 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $1,528,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,904,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,946,000 after acquiring an additional 50,454 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 156.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 114,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 69,674 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $51.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.11 and a 200-day moving average of $52.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

About Monster Beverage

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.