Capital World Investors Reduces Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Capital World Investors trimmed its stake by 33.4% in Q3, selling 3,670,265 shares and now holds 7,320,573 shares (~0.75% of Monster) valued at about $492.75 million.
• Significant insider selling occurred on Dec. 12: Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares (~$2.2M) and Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares (~$15.2M), leaving insiders with 7.80% ownership.
• Monster posted a quarterly beat with EPS of $0.51 vs. $0.49 and revenue of $2.10B (up 17.6% YoY); analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" and $84.14 target, while the stock trades at a ~39.5x PE and $74.94B market cap.

Capital World Investors trimmed its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 33.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,320,573 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,670,265 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned approximately 0.75% of Monster Beverage worth $492,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 958,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,515,000 after acquiring an additional 381,308 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,715,076 shares of the company's stock worth $384,682,000 after purchasing an additional 469,715 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 122.7% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 132,991 shares of the company's stock worth $8,952,000 after buying an additional 73,266 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 189.8% during the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 163,556 shares of the company's stock worth $11,009,000 after acquiring an additional 107,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MNST. Zacks Research lowered Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. 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 note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.14.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $76.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.20. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.00 and a twelve month high of $87.38. The stock has a market cap of $74.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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