Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,960,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 578,989 shares during the quarter. Monster Beverage accounts for about 3.2% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $209,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,915,120,000 after purchasing an additional 302,557 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,509,369,000 after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,885,000 after purchasing an additional 692,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,676,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $741,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MNST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $97.60 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $98.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.41. The company has a market capitalization of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.