Capital International Ltd. CA Sells 52,855 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Capital International Ltd. CA trimmed its Monster Beverage stake by 27.6% in Q3, selling 52,855 shares and retaining 138,431 shares valued at $9.318 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Significant insider selling occurred on Dec. 12: Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares for about $15.20 million (avg $73.58) and Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares for about $2.20 million (avg $73.31); corporate insiders now own 7.80% of the stock.
• Major institutions (Vanguard, State Street, Loomis Sayles, Geode, Invesco) increased holdings, pushing institutional ownership to 72.36%, and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $84.14 and several recent upgrades.

Capital International Ltd. CA trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,431 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,855 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,929,818 shares of the company's stock worth $2,188,004,000 after purchasing an additional 900,479 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,450,305 shares of the company's stock worth $1,656,847,000 after purchasing an additional 385,692 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,165,292,000 after buying an additional 742,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,983,411 shares of the company's stock worth $688,001,000 after buying an additional 1,829,064 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Monster Beverage from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.14.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $75.72 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $54.00 and a one year high of $87.38. The company has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $80.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.10.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

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.

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