Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore Analyst Says

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Evercore from $80.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research lowered Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.67.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $84.08. 833,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,019,403. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $50.93 and a 12-month high of $83.98. The company has a market cap of $82.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.75.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This trade represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $691,104,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after acquiring an additional 6,108,420 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 467.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,996,000 after acquiring an additional 5,641,160 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Monster Beverage by 133.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,499,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,858,109 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.