Dillon & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Dillon & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 17.6%, selling 8,774 shares and leaving it with 41,076 shares worth approximately $2.42 million.
• In recent activity, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares at an average price of $63.40, resulting in a 28.05% decrease in his position, while another insider, Emelie Tirre, sold 8,796 shares with an 8.95% ownership reduction.
• Analysts have mixed views on Monster Beverage, with Goldman Sachs raising its target price to $72.00 and assigning a "buy" rating, while others have downgraded their ratings, reflecting cautious optimism regarding the stock.

Dillon & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,076 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,774 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 37.1% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.9% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.0% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,527 shares of the company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $64.20. The company had a trading volume of 4,040,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,212,672. The company's fifty day moving average is $61.56 and its 200 day moving average is $58.31. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.69 billion, a PE ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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 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. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage 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.