Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Receives $60.79 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.10.

Several analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. HSBC lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MNST stock opened at $49.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.29. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company has a market capitalization of $52.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $2,233,632.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $13,055,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares in the company, valued at $27,820,413.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374 over the last ninety days. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,837,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,042 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,182,000 after acquiring an additional 37,391 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,469,000 after acquiring an additional 440,962 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,659,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,657 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.