Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,574 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,737 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MNST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 397.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 9,251 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 55.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 151.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after buying an additional 20,538 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $89.10 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $89.86. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.15.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value 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 trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.05.

About Monster Beverage

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.