Brokerages Set Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target at $55.83

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.83.

A number of research firms recently commented on MNST. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.89, for a total value of $2,634,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,293,876.94. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 39,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 19,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.8% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 14,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,660.7% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 82,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,308,000 after buying an additional 77,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 14,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 5,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $59.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.39. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.