Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $54.00 at Piper Sandler

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $51.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price objective suggests a potential downside of 11.68% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.17.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:MNST traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.14. 8,654,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,977,033. 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 company has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $57.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.96. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $61.83.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.