Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Sells 6,007 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT decreased its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,007 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,606 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 357,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,031,000 after purchasing an additional 57,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $91.21 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $91.47. The stock has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.06, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.02.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MNST shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

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.