Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 95.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,757 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 108,875 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the third quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Argus raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price 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. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.89.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $86.79 on Monday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 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 analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The business's 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 announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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