Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Purchased by ABN Amro Investment Solutions

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its Monster Beverage stake by 67.1% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 39,972 shares and bringing its total to 99,516 shares worth about $7.63 million.
• Monster Beverage reported a strong quarterly update, with EPS of $0.58 and revenue of $2.32 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations and up 22.6% from a year earlier.
• The company’s board authorized a $500 million stock buyback, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $88.89.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 67.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,516 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,972 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.89.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $86.32 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Monster Beverage

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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