Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,808 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,214 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $88.54 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $58.09 and a one year high of $90.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.53. The company has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.77, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MNST. Bank of America decreased their price target on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.