Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $105.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.35.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $99.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $97.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.78. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $99.98.

Monster Beverage’s stock is going 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 payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.