Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 4,373 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 40.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,373 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,915,000 after acquiring an additional 28,932 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,866 shares of the company's stock worth $5,985,000 after purchasing an additional 6,210 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,501 shares of the company's stock worth $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 8,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at about $460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.8%

MNST stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,273,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,004,994. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.91. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 12 month low of $43.32 and a 12 month high of $64.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $57.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.88, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MNST. UBS Group raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.91.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.