Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 97.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 622,570 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 306,928 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.06% of Monster Beverage worth $36,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,543,000 after purchasing an additional 734,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company's stock worth $386,732,000 after buying an additional 825,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,146,000 after buying an additional 493,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,783,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,999,383. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $64.45. The company has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.37. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $62.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.41.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.05.

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.