Monster Beverage’s (MNST) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $64.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MNST. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial downgraded Monster Beverage from a buy rating to a sell rating and cut their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $60.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $49.90 on Monday. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $47.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.28. The firm has a market cap of $51.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $781,742.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $781,742.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 49,495 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $1,528,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $7,340,000. Defender Capital LLC. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 371,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,378,000 after purchasing an additional 86,050 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $517,035,000. Hedge funds and other 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.