Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price upped by investment analysts at UBS Group from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 7.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MNST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of MNST opened at $69.73 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.09 billion, a PE ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $45.70 and a 12-month high of $72.62.

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. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 508.1% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $28,000. 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.