Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $78.50 and last traded at $78.4630, with a volume of 1539044 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 price target (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.2%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.56. The firm has a market cap of $76.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 27.76%. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.