Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $104.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $99.53 and last traded at $99.5910, with a volume of 200121 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.57.

MNST has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 397.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 9,251 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 151.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 2.1%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.27 and its 200-day moving average is $82.62. The firm has a market cap of $97.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.