Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes $933,000 Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Kesler Norman & Wride LLC opened a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter, buying 12,167 shares worth about $933,000.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates of $0.53 and revenue of $2.32 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $500 million share buyback, while analysts remain generally positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and a target price around $89.05.

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $933,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $89.04 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.41. The company has a market capitalization of $87.08 billion, a PE ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $89.86.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.05.

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.