Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,886 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,644 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $7,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,866 shares of the company's stock worth $5,985,000 after purchasing an additional 6,210 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6,279.2% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 315,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,590,000 after buying an additional 310,694 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 57,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 11,893 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 61,136 shares of the company's stock worth $3,211,000 after acquiring an additional 17,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 149,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,864,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST traded down $0.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.83. 893,658 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,720,771. The stock has a market cap of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.18. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MNST. Citigroup raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.