Strs Ohio Trims Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Strs Ohio cut its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 148,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,213 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $10,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 81,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST opened at $97.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.46. The firm has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $98.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company 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%. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.35.

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.