58,051 Shares in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Bought by Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC

Key Points

• Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter, acquiring 58,051 shares worth about $4.2 million.
• Monster Beverage has been seeing continued institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 72.36% of the stock overall.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and its board approved a $500 million share repurchase program.

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 58,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,206,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MNST. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 owned 81,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $97.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.41. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $98.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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