PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Boosts Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 58.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,915,120,000 after buying an additional 302,557 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 330,766 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,885,000 after buying an additional 692,192 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,676,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $741,879,000 after buying an additional 1,500,577 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $93.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.03. The stock has a market cap of $90.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $93.92.

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. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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 repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,346.70. This trade represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MNST. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.