Kera Capital Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock worth $451,543,000 after buying an additional 734,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company's stock worth $386,732,000 after buying an additional 825,489 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company's stock worth $284,146,000 after acquiring an additional 493,914 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.81.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 217,112 shares of company stock worth $12,033,838 over the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.67. The company had a trading volume of 13,500,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,799,253. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $59.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.88. The stock has a market cap of $62.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $64.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.