Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,046 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $1,214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 154,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,101,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 251,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,124,000 after buying an additional 15,611 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 151,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,897,000 after buying an additional 9,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $7,090,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $57.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.