Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Boosts Stake

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems et al. more than doubled its Monster Beverage stake in the third quarter, adding 1.09 million shares to own 2.01 million shares valued at approximately $83.6 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 72.36% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $71.86; individual targets range from $47.50 to $110.
• Monster Beverage reported quarterly EPS of $0.60, beating estimates by $0.02, while revenue reached $2.50 billion, up 20.2% year over year. Shares opened at $47.34, near the company’s one-year high of $50.17.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 119.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,007,618 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,094,718 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.10% of Monster Beverage worth $83,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,770,004,000. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 13,105,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,444,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175,047 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company's stock worth $908,102,000 after acquiring an additional 99,168 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 23.7% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,637,514 shares of the company's stock worth $553,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 27.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,465,974 shares of the company's stock worth $717,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $98.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 price objective on Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $47.34 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $32.94 and a one year high of $50.17. The company's 50-day moving average is $44.76 and its 200 day moving average is $43.09. The company has a market capitalization of $92.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.49.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. Monster Beverage's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation is a global beverage company focused primarily on the development, marketing, sale and distribution of energy drinks. Its portfolio includes the flagship Monster Energy brand, along with products marketed under brands such as NOS, Full Throttle, Reign, Burn and Mother. The company offers a range of energy drinks in different flavors and formulations, including products positioned for performance, fitness and everyday consumption.

The company traces its origins to Hansen Natural Corporation, which was founded in 1935 and changed its name to Monster Beverage Corporation in 2012 as the Monster Energy brand became increasingly central to its business.

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