Guy Carling Sells 38,438 Shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $72.90 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.10. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $73.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.22 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MNST. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.62.

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.