Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Sells $4,633,740.00 in Stock

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Director Mark Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $87.09 on Monday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average of $76.64.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CI Investments Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.5% in the first quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.37.

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.