Advocacy Wealth Management LLC Sells 108,861 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Advocacy Wealth Management LLC cut its Monster Beverage stake by 41.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 108,861 shares and leaving it with 151,572 shares valued at about $11.6 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on MNST, with 14 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings; the consensus target price is $89.05, while several firms recently raised their price targets to as high as $103.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and its board approved a $500 million share buyback program, signaling confidence in the stock.

Advocacy Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 41.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 151,572 shares of the company's stock after selling 108,861 shares during the quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $11,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.05.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.2%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $88.47 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $90.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $80.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.76. The stock has a market cap of $86.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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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