Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 275,209 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,174,103 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275,209 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Monster Beverage worth $158,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 233,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,428,000 after buying an additional 37,814 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $51.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.23. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company has a market capitalization of $53.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.85.

Monster Beverage 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.