Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 330,766 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its Monster Beverage stake by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, adding 330,766 shares and bringing its total holding to 19.6 million shares worth about $1.51 billion.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue rising 22.6% year over year to $2.32 billion.
• The company’s board approved a $500 million share repurchase program, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $88.89.

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,625,097 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.01% of Monster Beverage worth $1,509,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock worth $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company's stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 71.4% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 262.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,327,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,752 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Evercore lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.89.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $87.99 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $89.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $78.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.91.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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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