UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Buys 5,506 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $4.38 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, have also made significant increases to their stakes in Monster Beverage recently.
• Despite a 3.8% decline in trading, several analysts have raised their price targets for Monster Beverage, with many offering ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold".

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 7.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,852 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock worth $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 28,932 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.4% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,475,000 after buying an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,455,000 after buying an additional 11,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 28.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,136,000 after buying an additional 8,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $59.02. 12,248,440 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,052,162. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.83 and a 200 day moving average of $57.65. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $64.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Monster Beverage's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.91.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.