Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $105.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $105.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.95.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.8%

MNST opened at $95.15 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.91. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $99.15. The firm has a market cap of $93.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,080,000 after acquiring an additional 497,108 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,915,120,000 after buying an additional 302,557 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,369,000 after buying an additional 330,766 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $908,102,000 after acquiring an additional 99,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,885,000 after acquiring an additional 692,192 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Monster Beverage

Here are the key news stories impacting Monster Beverage this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monster Beverage announced a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a 100% stock dividend, with record date set for July 24 and the split-adjusted shares expected to begin trading on August 11. Stock splits often boost investor interest and improve trading liquidity. Monster Beverage Declares Two-for-One Stock Split
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Monster Beverage to $105 from $97 and kept an overweight rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Wells Fargo price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada increased its target to $97 from $88 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. RBC price target hike
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen also lifted its price target to $95 from $90, but kept a hold rating, suggesting limited near-term upside from its view. TD Cowen price target hike

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.