Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 66,013 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,966 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,013 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $12,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 360.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:MNST traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.65. 5,847,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,229,425. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.91 and its 200-day moving average is $52.62. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.85.

About Monster Beverage

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.