Monster Beverage Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MNST)

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 39,131 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,298% compared to the average daily volume of 2,799 put options.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 360.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter worth $31,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of MNST opened at $55.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.73. Monster Beverage has a 12 month low of $47.13 and a 12 month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. HSBC reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.32.

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.