CICC Research Upgrades Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) to "Outperform"

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at CICC Research from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $65.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $56.00. CICC Research's price target points to a potential upside of 6.93% from the company's previous close.

MNST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.42.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.79. 2,884,787 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,961,194. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.96. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $62.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $59.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $654,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 296,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,178,107. This trade represents a 3.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231,063 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004,391 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 250.9% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,801,000 after buying an additional 2,480,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,575,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Monster Beverage

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.

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