JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $75.00 to $79.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

MNST has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.90.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $80.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $47.22 and a 1 year high of $83.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,568,760.69. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 210,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,168,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $866,000. Shepherd Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $767,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 430,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,002,000 after buying an additional 85,213 shares in the last quarter. 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.