Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Monster Beverage has a Moderate Buy consensus from 21 analysts, with 14 buy ratings and 7 holds. The average 12-month price target is about $88.89.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.58 versus estimates of $0.53 and revenue of $2.32 billion versus expectations of $2.16 billion. Revenue also rose 22.6% year over year.
• Monster Beverage’s board approved a $500 million share repurchase program, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional ownership remains high at 72.36%.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.8947.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $86.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.60 and a 200 day moving average of $77.26.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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