Tredje AP fonden Lowers Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden reduced its Monster Beverage stake by 10% in the fourth quarter, selling 81,535 shares and leaving it with 736,928 shares valued at about $56.5 million.
• Monster Beverage reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 versus $0.53 expected and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million share repurchase plan, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.89.

Tredje AP fonden cut its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,928 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,535 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden owned 0.08% of Monster Beverage worth $56,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $88.54 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $58.09 and a one year high of $88.77. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $76.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.77, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.50.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 directly owned 81,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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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