Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $139.52 Million Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.7% in Q3 to 2,073,382 shares, worth about $139.52 million and representing roughly 0.21% of the company.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with 14 Buy / 8 Hold / 1 Sell and a consensus price target of $84.14, while firms like Piper Sandler and Wells Fargo recently lifted targets to about $94.
• Significant insider selling occurred—Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares and director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares (~$15.2M)—even as Monster beat Q4 estimates (EPS $0.51 vs. $0.49) with revenue up 17.6% year-over-year.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,073,382 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 130,687 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Monster Beverage worth $139,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 10,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.14.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $75.72 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.00 and a 52 week high of $87.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.15 and a 200-day moving average of $73.10.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation NASDAQ: MNST is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company's product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen's Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.

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