Wells Fargo & Company Trims Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Target Price to $59.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

MNST has been the subject of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Monday. They issued an underperform rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial downgraded Monster Beverage from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $46.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a buy rating for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Monster Beverage from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $59.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $60.10.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $50.57 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The company has a market capitalization of $52.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.37 and a 200-day moving average of $55.36.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total value of $781,742.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 360.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.