Swedbank AB Raises Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 472,529 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 77,485 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $34,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings 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 during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised 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 valued at $122,303,000 after buying an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the 4th 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $95.15 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.91. The firm has a market cap of $93.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $99.15.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

More Monster Beverage News

Here are the key news stories impacting Monster Beverage this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monster Beverage announced a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a 100% stock dividend, with record date set for July 24 and the split-adjusted shares expected to begin trading on August 11. Stock splits often boost investor interest and improve trading liquidity. Monster Beverage Declares Two-for-One Stock Split
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Monster Beverage to $105 from $97 and kept an overweight rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Wells Fargo price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada increased its target to $97 from $88 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. RBC price target hike
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen also lifted its price target to $95 from $90, but kept a hold rating, suggesting limited near-term upside from its view. TD Cowen price target hike

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.95.

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.