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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $56.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $55.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $60.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.96.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in 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 buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.83.

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.