Platt Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Platt Wealth Management LLC opened a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter, buying 96,834 shares worth about $7.4 million. The stake now makes MNST about 7.4% of the firm’s portfolio and its third-largest holding.
• Monster Beverage reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $0.58 per share topping estimates and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year. The company also announced a $500 million share buyback plan.
• Despite the positive results, insiders have been selling stock: CEO-related executive Emelie Tirre and CFO Thomas J. Kelly both reduced their holdings, and insiders sold 159,700 shares over the last quarter. Analysts remain cautiously optimistic, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $88.89.

Platt Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 96,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,424,000. Monster Beverage comprises about 7.4% of Platt Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth about $59,170,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 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 worth $122,303,000 after buying an additional 116,510 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock worth $67,738,000 after buying an additional 95,606 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 2,436.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 57,371 shares of the company's stock worth $3,862,000 after buying an additional 55,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in 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 worth $48,844,000 after buying an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 81,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $86.79 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.26. The company has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.50.

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.89.

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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