Graham Capital Management L.P. Sells 13,947 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management cut its Monster Beverage stake by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,947 shares and leaving it with 53,188 shares valued at about $4.08 million.
• Monster Beverage delivered strong quarterly results, beating expectations with EPS of $0.58 versus $0.53 estimated and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% from a year earlier.
• The company also announced a $500 million stock repurchase program, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $89.35.

Graham Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,188 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,947 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company's stock worth $5,212,080,000 after acquiring an additional 497,108 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company's stock worth $2,915,120,000 after acquiring an additional 302,557 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company's stock worth $1,509,369,000 after acquiring an additional 330,766 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $93.92. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $82.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.56. The company has a market cap of $90.91 billion, a PE ratio of 44.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.35.

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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