Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.79.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MNST shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Monster Beverage from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $2,233,632.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after acquiring an additional 49,495 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,528,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after purchasing an additional 86,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $517,035,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $49.09 on Friday. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The stock has a market cap of $51.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.63 and its 200 day moving average is $55.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Monster Beverage

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.