Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $85.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $76.34 and last traded at $76.5610, with a volume of 2509993 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.46.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MNST. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock valued at $20,138,516 over the last ninety days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.1%

The firm has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.96.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.