Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its Monster Beverage stake by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, adding 201,629 shares and bringing its holding to 2,047,322 shares worth about $157 million.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $0.58 per share versus the $0.53 estimate and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $500 million share buyback, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price around $89.05.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,047,322 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 201,629 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Monster Beverage worth $156,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 11,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 20,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 283,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,742,000 after purchasing an additional 6,737 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents 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 ninety days, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MNST opened at $89.10 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $79.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.15. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $89.86. The firm has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.04, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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