Ethic Inc. Sells 7,891 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 36.8%, selling 7,891 shares and now holding a total of 13,566 shares worth $801,000.
• Research analysts are optimistic, with several firms raising their target prices for Monster Beverage; for example, Bank of America increased its target from $66.00 to $72.00.
• Monster Beverage reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.48, alongside a revenue of $2.11 billion, reflecting an 11.1% year-over-year increase.

Ethic Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 36.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,566 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,891 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 28,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 6,538 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Monster Beverage by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 114,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,997,000 after purchasing an additional 24,396 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Monster Beverage by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,303,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $173,632,000 after purchasing an additional 400,278 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in Monster Beverage by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 29,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 7,412 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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 business'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 transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $64.39 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $61.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.83. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The company has a market cap of $62.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.99, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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