Maverick Capital Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Maverick Capital Ltd. reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 12.3% during the first quarter, owning 1,748,676 shares after selling 244,344 shares.
• Monster Beverage reported a net revenue of $2.11 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing an 11.1% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have issued varied ratings on Monster Beverage, with 12 buy ratings, 8 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings, reflecting a consensus target price of $65.10.

Maverick Capital Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,748,676 shares of the company's stock after selling 244,344 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage comprises approximately 1.8% of Maverick Capital Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Monster Beverage worth $102,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,791,313,000 after buying an additional 1,151,175 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $535,712,000 after purchasing an additional 563,353 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $497,157,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $434,901,000 after purchasing an additional 73,737 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,146,000 after purchasing an additional 493,914 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.45. 4,446,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,091,591. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.87.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MNST. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic cut Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.10.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.