California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,420,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,786 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Monster Beverage worth $81,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 101.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $256,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.79.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $54.33 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.59. The company has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.72. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12 month low of $47.13 and a 12 month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.