Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 141,495 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 11.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,363,935 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,495 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $71,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.9% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 48,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $54.14 on Friday. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.69 and its 200 day moving average is $51.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $53.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 22.84%. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

About Monster Beverage

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.