GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Position in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,261 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position 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 buying an additional 49,495 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $1,528,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after purchasing an additional 86,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $517,035,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 14th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Monster Beverage from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $48.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.53. The company has a market cap of $50.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.76. Monster Beverage Co. has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.76 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.