Oxbow Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its Monster Beverage stake by 70.7% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 85,814 shares valued at about $6.2 million.
• Monster Beverage reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue rising 22.6% year over year to $2.32 billion.
• The company’s board authorized a $500 million share buyback, while analysts remain generally constructive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.35.

Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 70.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,814 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,528 shares during the quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,844,000 after acquiring an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company's stock worth $15,173,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,606 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 124,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,538,000 after purchasing an additional 26,419 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This 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 quarter. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNST. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $97.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $98.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.41.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Monster Beverage Company 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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