TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $90.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.95.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $96.22. 1,932,793 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,809,942. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.77. The company has a market capitalization of $94.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $99.15.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 355.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.