Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $80.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $77.00 to $80.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST traded up $3.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.88. The stock had a trading volume of 7,437,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,921,305. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $45.70 and a 1 year high of $72.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.44 and its 200 day moving average is $63.36. The firm has a market cap of $68.23 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $544,584,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $497,157,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4,877.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,283,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,262,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137,552 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 467.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,996,000 after buying an additional 5,641,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $157,063,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.