Profund Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,797 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,749 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,649,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,450,000 after buying an additional 470,572 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 178,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,648,000 after acquiring an additional 4,787 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 69,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,330,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. CDM Financial Counseling Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $422,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 567.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 32,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 27,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MNST. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 in the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.7%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $88.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $88.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.78.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.