Insider Selling: Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) CFO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded up $0.59 on Tuesday, reaching $56.80. 5,476,802 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,673,100. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.85. The firm has a market cap of $55.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.