Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Clearbridge Investments reduced its Monster Beverage stake by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 951,359 shares and ending with 7.0 million shares valued at about $538.5 million.
• Monster Beverage reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.58 versus the $0.53 consensus and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $500 million share buyback, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $89.05.

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,023,538 shares of the company's stock after selling 951,359 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.72% of Monster Beverage worth $538,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $691,104,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,538,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Monster Beverage by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $338,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,575 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $80.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.60. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $90.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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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