ING Groep NV Raises Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,404 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,011 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,369,000 after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,885,000 after purchasing an additional 692,192 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $691,104,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $88.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.76. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $90.44.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MNST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Argus raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.05.

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.