Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $83.43 and traded as high as $94.54. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $93.56, with a volume of 3,867,683 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MNST. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.65.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 2.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $91.50 billion, a PE ratio of 45.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $92.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.43.

Monster Beverage’s stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,173,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 124,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,000 after purchasing an additional 26,419 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.