Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Purchased by Headlands Technologies LLC

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 81.8% during the first quarter, now owning 103,435 shares valued at approximately $6.05 million.
• Monster Beverage recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.47, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.46, though revenue was down 2.3% year-over-year at $1.85 billion.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Monster Beverage, with Bank of America setting a new target of $66.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 81.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,435 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,791,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,175 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,543,000 after purchasing an additional 734,406 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,732,000 after purchasing an additional 825,489 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,146,000 after purchasing an additional 493,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,466 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MNST. CICC Research raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.22.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $3.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.69. 12,216,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,160,069. The firm has a market cap of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.19 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 28.71%. The business's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.