Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.23 and last traded at $92.2070, with a volume of 262509 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MNST has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.3%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.