Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Insider Sells $2,585,940.00 in Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $55.09 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.80 and its 200 day moving average is $51.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The company has a market capitalization of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.21.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.