Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Sells $654,000.00 in Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of MNST traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.21. 4,360,859 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,662,170. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.21. The company has a market cap of $54.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.85.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 197,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,307,000 after buying an additional 4,651 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 273,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its position in Monster Beverage by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 1,056,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,110,000 after acquiring an additional 46,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $589,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.