Thomas J. Kelly Sells 10,000 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ MNST opened at $51.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $61.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,789 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,490,000 after purchasing an additional 473,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 18.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,898,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,365,000 after purchasing an additional 596,078 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.45.

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.