Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA decreased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 55.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,456 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.3% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth approximately $7,289,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.9% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 21,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $982,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 175.2% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 81,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $96.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $94.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.63. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $97.87.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced 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. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.