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

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Monster Beverage by 12.7%, owning 269,860 shares after selling 39,403 shares in the first quarter.
• Monster Beverage's CFO, Thomas J. Kelly, sold 27,000 shares for approximately $1.71 million, marking a significant decrease in his position.
• Analyst ratings for Monster Beverage are generally positive, with twelve analysts giving a "Buy" rating and recent price targets suggesting potential stock growth.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 269,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,403 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $15,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew 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. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.6%

MNST stock traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $62.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,163,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,768,074. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.58. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $66.75. The stock has a market cap of $60.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Monster Beverage

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.