Sapient Capital LLC Sells 4,901 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

Key Points

• Sapient Capital LLC has reduced its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 11.4%, selling 4,901 shares in the second quarter, leaving it with 38,262 shares valued at approximately $2.4 million.
• During the recent earnings report, Monster Beverage reported a 11.1% revenue increase year-over-year, with $2.11 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $0.52, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Analyst ratings for Monster Beverage are mixed, with twelve analysts giving a Buy rating, while more recent reports have seen some downgrades to Hold ratings and varying price targets.

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,262 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,901 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $2,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MNST. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 4.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 21.2% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MNST traded down $0.51 on Friday, reaching $64.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,012,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,077,287. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $67.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.06 and a 200-day moving average of $60.78.

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

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $73.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.19.

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.