Investors Purchase Large Volume of Monster Beverage Put Options (NASDAQ:MNST)

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 5,877 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 105% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,860 put options.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,213,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,279,380. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.49. Monster Beverage has a 1-year low of $32.21 and a 1-year high of $50.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 64,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,739 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $82,000. IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,880,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $433,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $51.50 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Evercore increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $47.50 to $52.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $47.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.33.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation is a beverage company headquartered in Corona, California. It develops, markets and distributes energy drinks and other alternative beverages through a portfolio of brands that includes Monster Energy, Reign, NOS, Full Throttle, Burn and Bang Energy.

The company offers energy drinks in a variety of flavors and formulations, including products positioned for performance, fitness and everyday use. Monster also participates in the alcoholic beverage category through products marketed under the Monster Brewing Company name, including flavored malt beverages and beers.

Monster Beverage traces its roots to Hansen’s, a juice and natural beverage business founded in the 1930s.