Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 101.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 751,426 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 378,791 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $31,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 257,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,701,000 after acquiring an additional 115,027 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Monster Beverage by 79.3% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 27,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 12,068 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in Monster Beverage by 101.1% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 18,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 9,227 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 103.1% in the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 6,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 100.0% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 199,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,284,000 after purchasing an additional 99,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $45.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.03 and a 12-month high of $50.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 24.99% and a net margin of 22.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.07.

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.