Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $88.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $83.00 to $88.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $83.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.00.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.0%

MNST opened at $85.54 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage has a 1-year low of $50.93 and a 1-year high of $85.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.57 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, 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. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.