Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its Monster Beverage stake by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 761,531 shares and bringing its holding to 3.76 million shares valued at about $288.4 million.
• Monster Beverage reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 versus the $0.53 estimate and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million share buyback, while several analysts raised or reiterated bullish targets; the stock recently traded near its 52-week high at $86.79.

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,761,249 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 761,531 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage makes up 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.38% of Monster Beverage worth $288,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.89.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.5%

MNST opened at $86.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $88.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.26.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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