Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Newly Purchased by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 17,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. NBH Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $108.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.07.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $45.73 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 1 year low of $32.94 and a 1 year high of $50.17. The company has a market capitalization of $89.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.10.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.02% and a net margin of 23.08%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation is a global beverage company focused primarily on the development, marketing, sale and distribution of energy drinks. Its portfolio includes the flagship Monster Energy brand, along with products marketed under brands such as NOS, Full Throttle, Reign, Burn and Mother. The company offers a range of energy drinks in different flavors and formulations, including products positioned for performance, fitness and everyday consumption.

The company traces its origins to Hansen Natural Corporation, which was founded in 1935 and changed its name to Monster Beverage Corporation in 2012 as the Monster Energy brand became increasingly central to its business.