QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $4.46 Million Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,504 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $4,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,844,000 after buying an additional 21,169 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,173,000 after buying an additional 12,050 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,303,000 after acquiring an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,606 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $97.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.46. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $98.93.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.