Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 2,651 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,449 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,651 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.3% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 49,495 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,528,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,904,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,946,000 after buying an additional 50,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Monster Beverage by 156.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 114,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after buying an additional 69,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $51.18 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company has a market cap of $53.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.85.

Monster Beverage Company 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.