William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $288.38 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,761,249 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 761,531 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage makes up approximately 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $288,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $349,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,079,000 after buying an additional 108,875 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 69,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,350,000 after buying an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platt Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $7,424,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $86.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MNST. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.89.

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.