National Pension Service Acquires 16,482 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,082,277 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,482 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $72,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MNST. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.86.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 in the last quarter. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $80.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $78.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $83.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.80 and its 200 day moving average is $69.43.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.