Creekmur Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 4,418 Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Monster Beverage by 9.1% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,880 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 54.7% during the first quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 5,366,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,728,000 after buying an additional 1,897,466 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 511.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 24.2% during the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $59.00. The company had a trading volume of 5,424,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,008,294. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $62.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.59. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $64.45.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.91.

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.