Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Celsius Holdings Inc. by 74.4%, owning a total of 14,227 shares worth $507,000 after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded Celsius, with ratings rising from "sell" to "hold" and "buy," and target prices ranging from $44.00 to $57.00.
• CEO John Fieldly and major shareholder William H. Milmoe recently sold significant amounts of Celsius stock, indicating a 10.15% and 1.64% decrease in their holdings, respectively.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Celsius Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH - Free Report) by 74.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,227 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,071 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Celsius were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Celsius in the fourth quarter worth $85,068,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Celsius by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 6,877,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591,345 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Celsius by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,148 shares of the company's stock worth $106,813,000 after buying an additional 1,585,839 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Celsius by 264.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 894,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,552,000 after buying an additional 648,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Celsius by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,927,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,761,000 after acquiring an additional 468,094 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Celsius from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Celsius from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Celsius from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Celsius from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Celsius in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.83.

Insider Transactions at Celsius

In other news, CEO John Fieldly sold 132,171 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.06, for a total transaction of $5,691,283.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,169,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,353,502.80. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Milmoe sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $14,181,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,017,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $851,699,987.90. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 962,974 shares of company stock valued at $44,658,418 in the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Celsius Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of CELH opened at $42.74 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.68. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 133.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.40. Celsius Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $48.47.

Celsius (NASDAQ:CELH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Celsius had a return on equity of 42.12% and a net margin of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $329.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Celsius's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Celsius Holdings Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Celsius Profile

Celsius Holdings, Inc develops, processes, markets, distributes, and sells functional energy drinks and liquid supplements in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canadian, European, Middle Eastern, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers CELSIUS, a fitness drink or supplement designed to accelerate metabolism and burn body fat; various flavors and carbonated and non-carbonated functional energy drinks under the CELSIUS Originals and Vibe name, as well as functional energy drink under the CELSIUS Essentials and CELSIUS On-the-Go Powder names; and CELSIUS ready-to drink products.

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