Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC cut its Monster Beverage stake by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 43,207 shares and leaving it with 96,974 shares valued at about $7.4 million.
• Monster Beverage reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $2.32 billion, with revenue up 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $500 million share repurchase program, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $88.89.

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,974 shares of the company's stock after selling 43,207 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,542,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,685 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $338,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 262.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,327,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $88.08 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $78.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $89.85.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.89.

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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