Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 170,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,531 shares during the period. Monster Beverage makes up approximately 0.7% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $13,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,212,080,000 after buying an additional 497,108 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after buying an additional 2,789,273 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,885,000 after buying an additional 692,192 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,175,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,444,000 after buying an additional 891,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,867,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,551,000 after buying an additional 95,919 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $87.42 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.62. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm 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%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.