Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $104.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $99.53 and last traded at $99.5910, with a volume of 200121 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.57.

MNST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 in the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Tema ETFs LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 372,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,848,000 after purchasing an additional 4,413 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $238,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 464.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 33,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.62. The stock has a market cap of $97.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.