abrdn plc Has $17.99 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 69.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 312,309 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,963 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,466 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 61.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,431,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,482 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 33.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,782,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,261,000 after acquiring an additional 948,133 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 32.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,823,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,492,000 after acquiring an additional 686,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 78.2% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,230,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,170,000 after acquiring an additional 540,285 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $54.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.59. The company has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share 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.