Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.7391.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MNST shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $78.17 on Monday. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $79.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.99.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.