Mark J. Hall Sells 12,000 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,178,107. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $56.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $61.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.92.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,789 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,543,000 after purchasing an additional 734,406 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.