Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,634 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,360 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $10,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 21.2% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MNST. Bank of America upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,829,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,368. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $61.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.28. Monster Beverage Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $66.75.

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

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.