Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stock Position Lifted by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its Monster Beverage stake by 37.7% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 324,591 shares valued at about $23.5 million.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company’s board also approved a $500 million share repurchase plan, while recent insider sales and mixed analyst moves keep sentiment tempered despite the stock’s recent strength.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,591 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 88,893 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $23,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company's stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 9,251 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 55.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 151.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, 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 transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $91.34 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $93.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase 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 stock is undervalued.

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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