Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $78.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase cut its price target on Monster Beverage from $81 to $78 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying only about a 3.6% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment is still generally positive — 14 Buy vs. 8 Hold ratings with an average price target of $84.40 (a "Moderate Buy") — and some brokers (Citigroup, Morgan Stanley) maintain much higher targets at $100 and $96 respectively.
• Monster recently posted an earnings beat (EPS $0.51 vs. $0.49) and revenue of $2.10B (vs. $2.04B), with revenue up 17.6% year-over-year and a strong net margin of 22.97%.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $81.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.60% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $96.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.40.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $1.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $75.29. The company had a trading volume of 338,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,668,483. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $76.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.80. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $87.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.97% and a return on equity of 27.38%. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,170,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,738,000 after buying an additional 95,606 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 2,436.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 57,371 shares of the company's stock worth $3,862,000 after acquiring an additional 55,109 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 130.6% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 25,260 shares of the company's stock worth $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 14,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. 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.

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