Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 378,791 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 101.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 751,426 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 378,791 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $31,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MNST. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 57,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after acquiring an additional 29,014 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 97.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 146,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,081,000 after acquiring an additional 72,173 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 399.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 33,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 26,880 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 98.6% in the 3rd quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 246,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,275,000 after purchasing an additional 122,539 shares during the period. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,907,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $45.34 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.67 and its 200-day moving average is $43.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.75 billion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.03 and a 1 year high of $50.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $49.50 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Evercore dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.07.

About Monster Beverage

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.