Financial Advisors Network Inc. Makes New Investment in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Financial Advisors Network Inc. purchased 43,605 shares of Monster Beverage Corporation, valued at approximately $2.55 million, within the first quarter of the year.
• Other investors, such as Nuveen LLC, added significant stakes during the same period; Nuveen acquired a new stake worth approximately $497 million.
• Monster Beverage reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.1%.

Financial Advisors Network Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,552,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock worth $179,267,000 after buying an additional 3,004,391 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,942,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,880.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,399,000 after buying an additional 1,233,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $64.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.65. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $66.75. The company has a market capitalization of $63.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MNST. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.

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