Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.9524.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MNST shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 33.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 154.1% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 7,085 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 17.8% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 275,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,534,000 after buying an additional 41,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 80.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 35,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $77.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $75.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.04 and its 200 day moving average is $66.28. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $78.31.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.