Guy Carling Sells 19,000 Shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

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

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.80 on Friday, reaching $92.83. 4,619,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,775,222. The company has a market cap of $90.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.16. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.09 and a 1-year high of $93.08.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MNST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price target on Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $691,104,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 133.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,499,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,660,000 after buying an additional 4,858,109 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.