Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.81.

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MNST stock traded down $0.45 on Friday, hitting $62.59. 4,798,790 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,209,012. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $60.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $64.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,796 shares of company stock valued at $6,053,838. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company's stock worth $3,791,313,000 after buying an additional 1,151,175 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,914 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $535,712,000 after purchasing an additional 563,353 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter valued at approximately $497,157,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $442,642,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.