Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $188.40 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,457,312 shares of the company’s stock after selling 536,000 shares during the period. Monster Beverage comprises approximately 1.1% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $188,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $92.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.26. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $93.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $7,624,652.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 81,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.