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

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $56.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.85. The company has a market capitalization of $54.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.21.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the 4th 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. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus 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.