Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 12.5%, selling 4,761 shares and bringing its total holdings to 33,461 shares, valued at approximately $1,958,000.
• Monster Beverage's stock opened at $64.69, showing a 6.4% increase, and reported a 20.54% net margin along with earnings of $0.52 EPS for the last quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Monster Beverage, with two sell ratings, seven holds, and thirteen buy ratings, reflecting a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $64.90.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,461 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,761 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,094 shares of the company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 253,972 shares of the company's stock worth $13,350,000 after buying an additional 140,955 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 25,270 shares of the company's stock worth $1,328,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Piper Sandler raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.40. The company had a trading volume of 2,009,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,201,852. The company's 50-day moving average is $61.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.27. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $61.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.