Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 289,493 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 49.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289,493 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $12,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 113.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 98.8% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.50 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Monster Beverage from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 price objective on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.07.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $45.57 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.03 and a 1-year high of $50.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.39. The firm has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.66% and a return on equity of 24.99%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation develops, markets and sells energy drinks and other beverages. Its portfolio includes Monster Energy, Reign, NOS and Full Throttle, along with products in categories such as sports drinks, juices and alcoholic beverages. The company traces its roots to Hansen’s, a beverage business established in the 1930s. It introduced the Monster Energy brand in 2002 and adopted the Monster Beverage name in 2012. Based in Corona, California, Monster sells its products in the United States and internationally.