Lmcg Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Lmcg Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 36.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,119 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,190 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,173,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,303,000 after buying an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,738,000 after buying an additional 95,606 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after buying an additional 6,108,420 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

More Monster Beverage News

Here are the key news stories impacting Monster Beverage this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monster Beverage announced a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a 100% stock dividend, with record date set for July 24 and the split-adjusted shares expected to begin trading on August 11. Stock splits often boost investor interest and improve trading liquidity. Monster Beverage Declares Two-for-One Stock Split
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Monster Beverage to $105 from $97 and kept an overweight rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Wells Fargo price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada increased its target to $97 from $88 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. RBC price target hike
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen also lifted its price target to $95 from $90, but kept a hold rating, suggesting limited near-term upside from its view. TD Cowen price target hike

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $95.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.06 billion, a PE ratio of 45.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $99.15.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, 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 analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.95.

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.