UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $84.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MNST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.35.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $99.94 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.78. The company has a market capitalization of $97.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.28, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $99.98.

Shares of Monster Beverage are scheduled to split on the morning of Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 in the last 90 days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,844,000 after acquiring an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,173,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.