Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 18,197 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management cut its Monster Beverage stake by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,197 shares and leaving it with 67,854 shares valued at about $5.2 million.
• Monster Beverage reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with 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 buyback, while several insiders have recently sold shares and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $89.05.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,854 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,197 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $5,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 397.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 9,251 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 55.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 151.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 20,538 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $88.47 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $90.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.76. The stock has a market cap of $86.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. Wall Street Zen lowered Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.05.

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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