Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 518,013 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,704 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.05% of Monster Beverage worth $30,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 151,953 shares of the company's stock worth $8,892,000 after buying an additional 13,402 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 187,707 shares of the company's stock worth $10,985,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 186,564 shares of the company's stock worth $10,918,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock worth $75,455,000 after buying an additional 11,443 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,962,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,004,796. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.59. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.32 and a 1-year high of $64.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $62.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.69.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. CICC Research upgraded Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $63.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.87.

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.