Insider Selling: Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Sells 12,000 Shares of Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,178,107. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $1.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $56.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,360,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,662,170. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.85. The stock has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after buying an additional 1,229,789 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,543,000 after acquiring an additional 734,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.