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

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $64.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MNST. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.44.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $58.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $54.63 and its 200-day moving average is $52.97. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $60.34.

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). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business’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 value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 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.