Leeward Financial Partners LLC Sells 446 Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Leeward Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,848 shares of the company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MNST. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Monster Beverage from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.05.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,172,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,570,869. Monster Beverage Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The stock has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.09 and its 200-day moving average is $55.20.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

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 transaction of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.