Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. cut its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 854,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177,424 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $62,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $96.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.58. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $97.87. The company has a market cap of $94.26 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.54.

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, beating 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%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 in the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.