Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 48.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,634 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $517,035,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,659,000 after buying an additional 3,026,657 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 143.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,209,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,921,000 after buying an additional 1,893,064 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 34.1% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,859,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,082,000 after buying an additional 1,234,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,837,867,000 after buying an additional 1,059,042 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MNST shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,820,413.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374 over the last ninety days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,458,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,259,067. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.09. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.76. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $47.13 and a 1-year high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.