ZEGA Investments LLC Acquires New Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $77.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.72 billion, a PE ratio of 44.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $78.31.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.05.

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.