Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,200,000 shares, a drop of 17.7% from the March 15th total of 20,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MNST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.33.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total transaction of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,293,876.94. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 2.0 %

MNST stock traded up $1.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.18. The stock had a trading volume of 417,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,050,684. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. Monster Beverage has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $60.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.