Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $63.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.17.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $61.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.96. The firm has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at $16,178,107. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after buying an additional 2,480,291 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $121,575,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.