Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Raised to Strong-Buy at Argus

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.62.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $75.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.61, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $75.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.61.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the third quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.