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

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $43.03 and traded as high as $47.07. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $46.70, with a volume of 7,430,631 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MNST. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $47.50 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $51.50 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $47.00 to $50.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $47.50 target price (up from $36.50) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.33.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $91.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.05.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 43,726 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 48.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 644,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,992,000 after acquiring an additional 210,665 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 108.3% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 64,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after buying an additional 33,767 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at $87,748,000. Financial Insights Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 16.5% during the second quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8,682.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 107,690,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,351,252,000 after acquiring an additional 106,464,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.