State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 260,056 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,992 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $17,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 467.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,996,000 after acquiring an additional 5,641,160 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $157,063,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,121,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948,827 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $81.48 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.09. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $83.24. The stock has a market cap of $79.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.30, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MNST. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.90.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.