Analysts Set Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target at $55.85

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.85.

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 23,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 132,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 49,495 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,904,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,946,000 after buying an additional 50,454 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 156.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 114,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after buying an additional 69,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $16,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $50.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.37 and its 200 day moving average is $51.79. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $52.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.