ITEM 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Principal Market

The Company’s common stock began trading in the over-the-counter market on November 8, 1990 and was subsequently quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “HANS”. On July 5, 2007, the Company’s common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the same symbol, “HANS”. On January 5, 2012, stockholders of the Company approved the Company’s name change from Hansen Natural Corporation to Monster Beverage Corporation. In addition, on January 9, 2012, the Company’s common stock began trading under the symbol “MNST”. As of February 25, 2013, there were 165,545,860 shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding held by approximately 316 holders of record.

Stock Price and Dividend Information

The following table sets forth high and low per share sales price of our common stock for the periods indicated:

Year Ended December 31, 2012	High		Low
First Quarter	$	63.18	$	45.57
Second Quarter	$	83.96	$	60.66
Third Quarter	$	75.00	$	50.20
Fourth Quarter	$	59.07	$	39.99

Year Ended December 31, 2011	High		Low
First Quarter	$	30.26	$	25.84
Second Quarter	$	40.90	$	29.91
Third Quarter	$	47.33	$	34.43
Fourth Quarter	$	49.18	$	38.20

The per share sales prices of our common stock set forth above represent bid quotations between dealers, do not include retail markups, mark-downs or commissions and bid quotations may not necessarily represent actual transactions and “real time” sale prices. The source of the bid information is the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.

We have not paid cash dividends to our stockholders since our inception and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

On October 12, 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program for the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of the Company’s outstanding common stock and on August 13, 2012, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the authorization of an increase of an additional $250.0 million (collectively the “2011-2012 Repurchase Plan”), increasing the total amount available under the 2011-2012 Repurchase Plan at that time to $500.0 million. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company purchased 8.7 million shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $57.35 per share for a total amount of $499.8 million (excluding broker commissions), which exhausted the availability under the 2011-2012 Repurchase Plan.

On November 13, 2012, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program for the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of the Company’s outstanding common stock (the “November 2012 Repurchase Plan”). During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company purchased 4.8 million shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $49.26 per share for a total amount of $236.5 million (excluding broker commissions). Subsequent to December 31, 2012, the Company purchased an additional 0.257 million shares at an average purchase price of $51.99 per share, which exhausted the availability under the November 2012 Repurchase Plan.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, 0.01 million shares were repurchased from employees in lieu of cash payments for options exercised or withholding taxes due for a total amount of $0.7 million. While such purchases are considered common stock repurchases, they are not counted as purchases against our authorized share repurchase programs, including the 2011-2012 Repurchase Plan and the November 2012 Repurchase Plan.

The following tabular summary reflects our repurchase activity during the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

2012	Total Number of Shares Purchased	Average Price per Share¹		Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs	Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (In thousands)²
October 1 - October 31	1,860,650	$	54.99	1,860,650	$	-
November 13, 2012 Authorization					$	250,000
November 1 - November 30	2,815,520	$	47.58	4,676,170	$	115,972
December 1 - December 31	1,986,162	$	51.65	6,662,332	$	13,357
Total	6,662,332	$	50.86

¹Excluding broker commissions paid.

²Net of broker commissions paid.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table sets forth information as of December 31, 2012 with respect to shares of our common stock that may be issued under our equity compensation plans.


Plan category	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights (a)	Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights (b)	Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a)) (c)

Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders	14,590,225	$12.12	13,424,790

Equity compensation plans not approved by stockholders	-	-	-

Total	14,590,225	$12.12	13,424,790

Performance Graph

The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns:1

COMPARISON OF CUMULATIVE FIVE YEAR TOTAL RETURN

1Annual return assumes reinvestment of dividends. Cumulative total return assumes an initial investment of $100 on December 31, 2007. The Company’s current self-selected peer group is comprised of The Coca-Cola Company, DPS Group, National Beverage Corporation, Jones Soda Company and Cott Corporation.

MNST - Monster Beverage Corporation