Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Holdings Boosted by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 383.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the 4th 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 period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Argus increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $96.38 on Monday. The stock 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $97.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 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 repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Monster Beverage 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.