Capital International Ltd. CA Cuts Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Capital International Ltd. CA lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 115,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,739 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $8,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $636,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $342,000. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 173,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,290,000 after buying an additional 40,346 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $20,874,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 330,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,373,000 after buying an additional 19,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $90.44. The company has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.60.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the 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 owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.