Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. $MCRI

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 40.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 98,371 shares to own approximately 1.86% of the company.
• Recent analyst ratings have been mixed, with Truist Financial upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and setting a price target of $105.00, while the consensus rating remains a "hold" with an average target of $93.20.
• CEO John Farahi sold 2,000 shares at an average price of $105.78, with insiders owning approximately 25.52% of the company's stock.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI - Free Report) by 40.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 343,565 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 98,371 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 1.86% of Monarch Casino & Resort worth $26,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,737 shares of the company's stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 3.9% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,766 shares of the company's stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 45.6% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,075 shares of the company's stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,467 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,160 shares of the company's stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 3,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCRI. Wall Street Zen raised Monarch Casino & Resort from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.20.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MCRI traded up $2.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.99. The stock had a trading volume of 79,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,557. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.56. Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.99 and a twelve month high of $113.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.87.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $136.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.76 million. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 18.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monarch Casino & Resort

In other news, CEO John Farahi sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.78, for a total transaction of $211,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 560,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,248,435.80. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig F. Sullivan sold 12,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.55, for a total transaction of $1,287,710.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 25.52% of the company's stock.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc engages in the ownership and operation of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino facility in Reno, Nevada, and the Monarch Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.