Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $3.61 Million Stock Holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,682 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $3,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 259.2% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 28.6% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 541.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.8%

MNST stock opened at $62.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.41. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total value of $549,398.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.05.

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.