Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,365,217 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,835 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $181,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $691,104,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 valued at $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,542,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.56. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $93.92.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director 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 have sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Company 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.