AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,142,807 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,638 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $57,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,837,867,000 after buying an additional 1,059,042 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,182,000 after acquiring an additional 37,391 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,469,000 after acquiring an additional 440,962 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,657 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 93.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $52.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.85.

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.