Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after CICC Research upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating. CICC Research now has a $65.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $56.00. Monster Beverage traded as high as $62.46 and last traded at $61.69, with a volume of 724255 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $61.00.

MNST has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 659.1% during 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,480,291 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

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

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.