National Pension Service Has $61.89 Million Position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation by 2.3% in Q1, owning 1,057,627 shares valued at approximately $61.89 million.
• Monster Beverage reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.48, with revenue up 11.1% year-over-year to $2.11 billion.
• Institutional investors own 72.36% of Monster Beverage stock, and the average target price among analysts is $65.10, with a consensus rating of "Hold."

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,057,627 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,298 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.11% of Monster Beverage worth $61,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,474,222 shares of the company's stock worth $86,250,000 after acquiring an additional 354,730 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 240,230 shares of the company's stock worth $14,033,000 after acquiring an additional 23,578 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,749 shares of the company's stock worth $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 322,289 shares of the company's stock worth $18,860,000 after purchasing an additional 8,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 52,895 shares of the company's stock worth $3,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $64.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $66.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.41.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 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 firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

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.

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