Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stock Holdings Lessened by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. reduced its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,655 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.0% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,369,000 after buying an additional 330,766 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.3% in 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $691,104,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $91.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a PE ratio of 44.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.02. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $91.47.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 in the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.