Man Group plc Sells 775,807 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Man Group plc lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,491,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 775,807 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $114,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $91.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.67. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $93.92.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company’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 firm posted $0.47 EPS. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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

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.