Short Interest in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Grows By 24.3%

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,320,000 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the May 31st total of 26,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 5,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Monster Beverage from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $59.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MNST stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.34. 6,283,126 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,597,837. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The stock has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.24.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.