WMS Group LLC Takes Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 14,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,000. Monster Beverage comprises about 1.4% of WMS Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $91.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $93.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.87.

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 net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

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.