Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MNST. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $52.00 target price on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.07.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1%

MNST stock opened at $45.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.51. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $35.03 and a 12-month high of $50.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.37.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.66% and a return on equity of 24.99%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 362.8% during the third quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 16,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 13,002 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 23,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 19,439 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 336,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,997,000 after acquiring an additional 164,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 132.8% in the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 13,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 7,844 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation develops, markets and sells energy drinks and other beverages. Its portfolio includes Monster Energy, Reign, NOS and Full Throttle, along with products in categories such as sports drinks, juices and alcoholic beverages. The company traces its roots to Hansen’s, a beverage business established in the 1930s. It introduced the Monster Energy brand in 2002 and adopted the Monster Beverage name in 2012. Based in Corona, California, Monster sells its products in the United States and internationally.