Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Rockefeller Capital Management increased its Monster Beverage stake by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 12,050 shares to reach 197,899 shares valued at about $15.2 million.
• Monster Beverage reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.58 versus the $0.53 estimate and revenue of $2.32 billion versus the $2.16 billion forecast, with revenue up 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million share repurchase plan, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.35.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 197,899 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company's stock worth $48,844,000 after acquiring an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,303,000 after acquiring an additional 116,510 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,738,000 after acquiring an additional 95,606 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 124,400 shares of the company's stock worth $9,538,000 after purchasing an additional 26,419 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock worth $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $93.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $91.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.16. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $94.88.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $7,028,347.48. This represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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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