Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.84% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on MNST. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $62.59 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.39. The firm has a market cap of $61.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,796 shares of company stock valued at $5,399,838 in the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 259.2% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.