Patton Fund Management Inc. Lowers Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Patton Fund Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 19.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,119 shares during the period. Monster Beverage comprises about 0.7% of Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 9,251 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 55.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 151.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MNST shares. Evercore boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $96.38 on Monday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $97.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.63. The company has a market cap of $94.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.56, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

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.