Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $58.84 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 74.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 812,287 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 347,630 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.08% of Monster Beverage worth $58,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,289,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 21,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $982,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 175.2% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 5,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of Monster Beverage 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MNST. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST opened at $97.64 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $97.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.17, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.