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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.0 %

Monster Beverage stock opened at $56.82 on Thursday. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $60.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.96. The firm has a market cap of $55.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. 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 announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas lowered 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.