Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Purchased by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,808 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,214 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $88.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.53. The company has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $90.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its 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. 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at $6,152,959.62. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MNST. Argus upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

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.