Whittier Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2,304.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 231,852 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 222,211 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $97.60 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.09 and its 200 day moving average is $81.46. The stock has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $98.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was 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 owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Monster Beverage

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.