Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $5.30 Million Holdings in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,166 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,144 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Monarch Casino & Resort worth $5,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 980 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. 62.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John Farahi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.70, for a total transaction of $77,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,059,477.20. This trade represents a 0.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 24.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Monarch Casino & Resort from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Monarch Casino & Resort from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Monarch Casino & Resort from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monarch Casino & Resort has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.20.

Monarch Casino & Resort Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MCRI opened at $91.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.66 and a 200-day moving average of $81.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 1.74. Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.50 and a fifty-two week high of $96.11.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.23. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 18.27%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Monarch Casino & Resort Profile

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc engages in the ownership and operation of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino facility in Reno, Nevada, and the Monarch Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.