Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Monster Beverage worth $75,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 259.2% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 28.6% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.4%

MNST stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $62.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,267,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,992,142. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.36 and a 200 day moving average of $56.55. The company has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.78.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% 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 fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. CICC Research upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.05.

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.