STF Management LP Has $427,000 Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

STF Management LP cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 61.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,036 shares during the period. STF Management LP’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $87.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.59. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The stock has a market cap of $85.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.07, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.