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

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target upped by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $75.00 to $81.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MNST. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.19.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $74.71 on Monday. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $76.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.01. The company has a market cap of $72.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth about $544,584,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter valued at approximately $497,157,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,262,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137,552 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 467.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.