Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $64.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.37% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MNST. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.44.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1 %

MNST stock opened at $58.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.87 and a 200-day moving average of $53.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $60.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,543,000 after purchasing an additional 734,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $442,642,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,357,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,732,000 after buying an additional 825,489 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,406,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,146,000 after buying an additional 493,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.