Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $1.14 Million in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP acquired 19,469 shares of Monster Beverage Corporation, valued at approximately $1.14 million, during the first quarter.
• Insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm’s stock, decreasing her ownership by 8.95%, while CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares, reducing his position by 28.05%.
• Brokerage analysts have varying ratings on Monster Beverage, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.91 for the stock.

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,139,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 4.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MNST traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.96. 1,537,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,000,580. The firm has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.42. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $64.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.91.

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.