Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.32.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MNST. Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $55.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.74. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,682,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,738,000 after buying an additional 550,293 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,622,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,557,000 after acquiring an additional 330,740 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,659,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $517,035,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.