Pacer Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 551,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $37,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $544,584,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 5,641,160 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $157,063,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,126.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,121,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516 over the last quarter. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $77.31 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $78.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.33 and its 200 day moving average is $66.45. The company has a market capitalization of $75.53 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.48.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.95.

About Monster Beverage

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.