Thomas J. Kelly Sells 10,000 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) 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 shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1 %

MNST opened at $56.87 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.99. 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 Co. has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $60.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,383,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,278,000 after acquiring an additional 14,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 306,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,091,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. 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.