Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $85.00. Evercore currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $84.88 and last traded at $84.69, with a volume of 6208301 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.76.

MNST has been the subject of several other reports. Argus increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, January 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.92. The firm has a market cap of $82.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.45.

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.