ZEGA Investments LLC Invests $992,000 in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $77.50 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $78.31. The firm has a market cap of $75.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.56.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.