Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Position Raised by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,176,347 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 861,215 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $473,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $92.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.16 and a 200-day moving average of $79.26. The firm has a market cap of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $93.08.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage 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.