Arden Trust Co Sells 434 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Arden Trust Co lessened its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 434 shares during the period. Arden Trust Co’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 49,495 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $1,528,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $7,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $517,035,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.33.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,820,413.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares in the company, valued at $27,820,413.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374 over the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST traded down $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.53. 7,252,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,266,403. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.00. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.