Banco Santander S.A. Has $13.72 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 8.1%, owning a total of 234,457 shares worth approximately $13.7 million after acquiring an additional 17,566 shares in the first quarter.
• Various institutional investors have also bolstered their positions, with significant increases such as an 11.6% rise by Twin Capital Management and a 76.2% surge by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors during the same period.
• Despite a quarterly earnings report that exceeded consensus estimates, Monster Beverage's revenue fell short of expectations, reflecting a 2.3% year-over-year decline in sales.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,457 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,566 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $13,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 37.1% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.9% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.0% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.48. The stock had a trading volume of 11,501,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,124,738. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $61.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.79. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.37. The company has a market capitalization of $58.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several research reports. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.91.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Monster Beverage

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.