Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 283,340 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,855 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at $36,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at $42,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.60. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $90.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results 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 business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.