Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $83.50 Million Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,588,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,788 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $83,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8 %

MNST opened at $58.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.84 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $60.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.31 and its 200 day moving average is $53.09.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company 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, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BNP Paribas cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.33.

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

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.