Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 119,275 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,942 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $9,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 9,251 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 151.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after buying an additional 20,538 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $86.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.92. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $88.77.

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America dropped 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, 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 transaction of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.

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.