Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $62.00 to $64.00. The stock had previously closed at $51.92, but opened at $55.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $54.81, with a volume of 1,698,495 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on MNST. UBS Group lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. The trade was a 11.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after buying an additional 2,168,379 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,789 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,543,000 after purchasing an additional 734,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 5.3 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. On average, analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

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.