Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 6,279.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,642 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 310,694 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $16,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $57.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.13. The firm has a market cap of $55.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.06.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

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.