Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,091,367 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,301 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $390,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,509,369,000 after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,885,000 after purchasing an additional 692,192 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at $691,104,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.05.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at $7,028,347.48. This represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST opened at $89.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $90.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.65.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued 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. The firm 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%. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.