Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Argus upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.14.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 2.6%

MNST opened at $78.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.20 and a 200-day moving average of $72.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.44. Monster Beverage has a 1-year low of $54.00 and a 1-year high of $87.38.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.