Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $66.12 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its position in Monster Beverage by 28.9% in the first quarter, selling 458,857 shares and now owning approximately 1,129,833 shares valued at $66.1 million.
• Analysts have set a range of target prices for Monster Beverage, with UBS and Wells Fargo raising theirs to $67.00 and $73.00 respectively, while Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to "overweight" with a target of $74.00.
• Monster Beverage reported a quarterly revenue of $2.11 billion, surpassing analyst expectations, and earnings per share of $0.52, up from $0.41 in the same quarter last year.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,129,833 shares of the company's stock after selling 458,857 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.12% of Monster Beverage worth $66,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,465 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock worth $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 28,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock worth $75,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 423,548 shares of the company's stock worth $24,786,000 after acquiring an additional 15,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $63.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,148,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,075,915. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.87. The company has a market capitalization of $61.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MNST. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.10.

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.