Truist Financial Corp Increases Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Truist Financial increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 7.1% in Q4 to 476,082 shares, worth about $36.5 million at quarter-end.
• Monster beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.51 (vs. $0.49 expected) and revenue of $2.10 billion (vs. $2.04 billion), with revenue up 17.6% year-over-year and strong profitability metrics (net margin 22.97%, ROE 27.38%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but tilted positive: 14 Buy vs. 8 Hold ratings, an average consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.40 amid several recent target adjustments.

Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 476,082 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,538 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $36,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.40.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $75.80 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.85. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $87.38. The stock has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.50.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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