CIBC Asset Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management increased its Monster Beverage stake by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 430,442 shares valued at about $33 million.
• Insider selling picked up recently, including sales by Director Mark J. Hall and insider Emelie Tirre, while insiders now own 8.10% of the stock.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and its board approved a $500 million share buyback plan.

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,442 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 85,213 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $33,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $422,000. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $351,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $933,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,047,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,969,000 after buying an additional 201,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upped their price target 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $89.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.54. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $79.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.41. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $89.86.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership 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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