Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its Monster Beverage stake by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 38,800 shares and leaving it with 512,316 shares valued at about $39.3 million.
• Monster Beverage reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.58 EPS on revenue of $2.32 billion, with revenue up 22.6% year over year. The company also announced a $500 million share repurchase plan, signaling confidence in its valuation.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $89.35. Several firms raised targets or upgraded the stock, while Monster shares recently traded near $91.34, close to their 52-week high.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 512,316 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,800 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.05% of Monster Beverage worth $39,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position 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. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 124,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,538,000 after buying an additional 26,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during 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 buying an additional 6,108,420 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $91.34 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $93.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.33 billion, a PE ratio of 44.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $84.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.87.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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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