Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stock Position Cut by Broadwood Capital Inc.

Key Points

• Broadwood Capital trimmed its Monster Beverage stake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, but the position remains its largest holding at about 36.9% of its portfolio.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with EPS of $0.58 and revenue of $2.32 billion, while revenue rose 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million share buyback, while analysts remain generally constructive with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $89.35.

Broadwood Capital Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,198,996 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,432 shares during the period. Monster Beverage comprises about 36.9% of Broadwood Capital Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Broadwood Capital Inc. owned about 0.84% of Monster Beverage worth $628,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company's stock worth $48,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company's stock worth $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock worth $67,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,606 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock worth $4,542,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 19.2% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 357,025 shares of the company's stock worth $24,031,000 after buying an additional 57,389 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 over the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.3%

MNST stock opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $93.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.56.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company's revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.35.

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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