Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group increased its Monster Beverage stake by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 283,340 shares worth about $21.7 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 72.36% of Monster Beverage’s stock.
• Monster Beverage beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $89.05.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,340 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 24,855 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 210,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,168,000 after buying an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $866,000. Shepherd Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 430,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,002,000 after buying an additional 85,213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MNST. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.1%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $89.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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 cap of $87.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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