Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Acquires Shares of 52,275 Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Wakefield Asset Management opened a new position in Monster Beverage, buying 52,275 shares valued at about $4.0 million in the fourth quarter. The stake makes MNST its 29th largest holding and about 1.1% of its portfolio.
• Monster Beverage posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 beating estimates and revenue of $2.32 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 22.6% year over year, and the company also announced a $500 million share repurchase program.
• Despite the positive fundamentals, insiders sold shares recently, including CFO Thomas J. Kelly and Director Mark J. Hall. Meanwhile, analysts remain mostly constructive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $88.37.

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 52,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,000. Monster Beverage comprises approximately 1.1% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,387 shares of the company's stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 5,626 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $2,379,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $1,427,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,275 shares of the company's stock worth $9,165,000 after purchasing an additional 19,942 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $87.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average of $76.59. The company has a market capitalization of $85.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $88.77.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Monster Beverage from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Evercore upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.37.

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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