Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 19,100 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 330,941 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,100 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $25,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.60. The stock has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.54. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.