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

Truist Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Monster Beverage by 9.7% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 151,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 13,402 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 187,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 1.1% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 186,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 3.9% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $59.17. The stock had a trading volume of 5,482,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,002,714. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $64.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $57.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50 day moving average price is $62.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.69.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MNST shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.87.

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.