Brokerages Set Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) PT at $50.33

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.3250.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MNST. TD Cowen upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $48.50 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $47.50 target price (up from $36.50) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.50 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $43.82 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $50.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.23. The company has a market cap of $85.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. The company’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Guy Carling sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Range Advisory LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Range Advisory LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 644,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,992,000 after buying an additional 210,665 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 108.3% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 64,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after buying an additional 33,767 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $87,748,000. Finally, Financial Insights Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 16.5% in the second quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 3,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.