Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Acquired by DJE Kapital AG

DJE Kapital AG lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,400 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the quarter. DJE Kapital AG’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,223,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,775,000 after buying an additional 66,895 shares in the last quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $934,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $92.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.16. The firm has a market cap of $90.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $92.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Company 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.