Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $42.73 and traded as high as $47.98. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $47.43, with a volume of 11,952,726 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $38.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.50 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.33.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.6%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.81. The company has a market capitalization of $93.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.25, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, CEO Guy Carling sold 38,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $39,000. Alamar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $952,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,608,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its position in Monster Beverage by 10.1% in the second quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 40,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.