Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.80% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on MNST. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $4.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.89. The stock had a trading volume of 4,626,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,905,533. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.36. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $72.62. The stock has a market cap of $69.22 billion, a PE ratio of 44.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $544,584,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter worth about $497,157,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 7,137,552 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 467.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,849,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,996,000 after buying an additional 5,641,160 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $157,063,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.