Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST opened at $64.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.52. Monster Beverage has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 36,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 4,201 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 141,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,445,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 28,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 114,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,997,000 after purchasing an additional 24,396 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.