Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $104.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $84.00 to $104.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MNST. Bank of America cut their target price on Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Fourteen 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, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 2.4%

MNST stock opened at $97.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $95.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.10, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.88. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $100.34.

Monster Beverage shares are going to split on the morning of Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. This represents a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 355.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.