Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,813 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advisors Network Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth $2,552,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth $2,320,000. Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 73.6% in the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 473,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,689,000 after purchasing an additional 200,557 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 79.5% in the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 9,474 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,901,000 after purchasing an additional 73,737 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $64.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $45.70 and a 1-year high of $66.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, CICC Research upgraded Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.10.

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.