Vestcor Inc Grows Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its Monster Beverage stake by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 40,346 shares to reach 173,337 shares valued at about $13.29 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’s board authorized a $500 million share repurchase plan, while insiders recently sold shares and analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $89.05.

Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,337 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,346 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $13,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position 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 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% during 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. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $90.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.60. The firm has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MNST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.