Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Now Covered by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $63.69 on Thursday. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.83, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 259.2% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 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.