Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Rating Upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) was upgraded by investment analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $77.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price objective points to a potential downside of 1.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MNST. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus raised shares of Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research cut Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.74.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MNST opened at $78.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.95. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $79.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Monster Beverage

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.