Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) Jump On Analyst Upgrades

What does the smart money think about Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST)?

Fewer hedge funds were long in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) at the close of the first quarter, as a total of 71 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish in this stock as of March 31, down by two from one quarter earlier. However, those who stayed long were more bullish, as there was an 8.39% increase in their total investment compared to the previous quarter, despite just 1.22% growth in the stock price in the first quarter. Nonetheless, it should be noted that only 1.83% of all outstanding Merck & Co. shares were owned by hedge funds we follow in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management, led by Cliff Asness, owned the largest hedge fund position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) on March 31, with 7.49 million shares for a $430.6 million position. Christopher Medlock James’ Partner Fund Management unloaded the largest investment of the 700 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey during the first quarter, dumping 711,503 shares which were valued at $40.41 million on December 31.

The same cannot be said about Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST), as the number of hedge funds long in the stock at the end of the first quarter, a total of 28, was unchanged from the previous quarter. There was, however, an overall decrease in hedge fund holdings, because even though there was a 20.14% quarter-over-quarter increase in investment, this is short of the 29.84% growth of the stock in the first quarter. This means that overall, there was a drainage of investment from the stock. The stock declined by 1.65% in the second quarter, proving hedge funds right. The stock’s performance from the start of the year, however, has been a jump of 37.07%. Nonetheless, hedge funds we track only owned 3.92% of the outstanding shares of Monster Beverage. In terms of the most bullish hedge funds on Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST), Broadwood Capital, managed by Neal C. Bradsher, held a monster stake in the energy drink firm on March 31, owning about 1.6 million shares worth about $221.3 million. On the other side of the fence, Eashwar Krishnan’s Tybourne Capital Management cut the biggest position in the stock during the first quarter out of the 700 funds we follow, letting go of 777,955 shares.

Disclosure: None