Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Argus Analyst Says

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Argus from $90.00 to $95.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Argus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.40% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MNST. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.86.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock opened at $80.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.46. Monster Beverage has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $83.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 247.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 9,251 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $228,000. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $468,000. Finally, Northwest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.