Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 56.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,930 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 647.3% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MNST shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $77.34 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.39. Monster Beverage Corporation has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $78.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.94, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.