Friedenthal Financial Invests $982,000 in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Friedenthal Financial initiated a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter, buying 13,556 shares worth about $982,000.
• Monster Beverage recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with Q1 EPS of $0.58 versus $0.53 expected and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $500 million share repurchase plan, while insiders have been selling stock and analysts currently rate MNST a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $89.35.

Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $982,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company's stock worth $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,915,120,000 after buying an additional 302,557 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,509,369,000 after buying an additional 330,766 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company's stock worth $785,885,000 after buying an additional 692,192 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,676,260 shares of the company's stock worth $741,879,000 after buying an additional 1,500,577 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $94.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $95.75. The business's 50-day moving average is $85.13 and its 200-day moving average is $80.32.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. This trade represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MNST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.