Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 222,211 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. dramatically increased its stake in Monster Beverage, buying 222,211 additional shares in Q1 and lifting its holdings by 2,304.9% to 231,852 shares worth about $17.2 million.
• Monster Beverage posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.58 versus $0.53 estimated and revenue of $2.32 billion, up 22.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a $500 million stock buyback, while insider selling remained notable, including recent sales by CEO Guy Carling and Director Mark J. Hall.

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 2,304.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,852 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 222,211 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company's stock worth $48,844,000 after buying an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,173,000 after buying an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company's stock worth $122,303,000 after acquiring an additional 116,510 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock worth $67,738,000 after acquiring an additional 95,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company's stock worth $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $97.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.09 and its 200 day moving average is $81.46. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $98.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.35.

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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