Capital International Sarl Has $9.62 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Capital International Sarl cut its Monster Beverage stake by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 34,366 shares and leaving it with 125,457 shares valued at about $9.62 million.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $0.58 per share and revenue of $2.32 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations, while revenue rose 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million stock repurchase program, and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $89.05.

Capital International Sarl lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,457 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,366 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company's stock worth $5,212,080,000 after buying an additional 497,108 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,789,273 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 330,766 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $785,885,000 after purchasing an additional 692,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $691,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $89.55 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $80.27 and its 200-day moving average is $78.65. The stock has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $90.44.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.05.

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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