10,098 Shares in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Bought by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the third quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 over the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MNST shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.89.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $86.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.20. The firm has a market cap of $84.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $88.77.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.