Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 347,630 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 74.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 812,287 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 347,630 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $58,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. This trade represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $97.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $97.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.80.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research 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 program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.