Some Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Director, Mark Hall, recently sold a substantial US$13m worth of stock at a price of US$52.22 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 32%, which is notable but not too bad.

Monster Beverage Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Director Mark Hall was not their only sale of Monster Beverage shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$15m worth of shares at a price of US$58.55 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$48.03. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 120.82k shares worth US$6.4m. On the other hand they divested 1.12m shares, for US$62m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Monster Beverage than they bought, over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Monster Beverage better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Monster Beverage insiders own 0.3% of the company, worth about US$153m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The Monster Beverage Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Monster Beverage is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. But it is good to see that Monster Beverage is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Monster Beverage and we suggest you have a look.

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.

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