Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) CEO Sells $1,727,100.00 in Stock

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $92.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $58.09 and a one year high of $93.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.30.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MNST. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.