Insiders At Monster Beverage Sold US$49m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

The fact that multiple Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for Monster Beverage

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Monster Beverage

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Director, Mark Hall, sold US$15m worth of shares at a price of US$58.55 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$50.95. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 120.82k shares for US$6.4m. But insiders sold 894.70k shares worth US$49m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Monster Beverage shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Monster Beverage insiders own 0.3% of the company, currently worth about US$143m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Monster Beverage Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Monster Beverage shares in the last quarter. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Monster Beverage insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Monster Beverage.

Of course Monster Beverage may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.