Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Receives $55.83 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.83.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas reduced their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $58.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $59.56. The company has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.