Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $6.78 Million Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 108,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $6,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter worth about $497,157,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,466 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,278,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 69.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,032,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,114 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $68.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.33, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $68.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.74 and a 200 day moving average of $61.75.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage 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.