Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Position Decreased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 357,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,102 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $21,188,000 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 the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,898,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,846,000 after acquiring an additional 784,606 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,497,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,794,000 after acquiring an additional 352,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 21,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, July 1st. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.00 to $46.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of Monster Beverage 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 532,754 shares in the company, valued at $27,820,413.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.0 %

MNST stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Monday, hitting $51.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,262,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,323,944. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.34. The company has a market cap of $53.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.76. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage 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.