Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $85.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $77.00 to $85.00 in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.67.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1%

MNST stock opened at $76.26 on Friday. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $77.17. The company has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.33, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.48 and a 200-day moving average of $66.00.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm 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 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total transaction of $2,741,782.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.