Insider Selling: Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Sells 48,000 Shares of Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,542,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,738,578. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased 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 in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

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.