Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $61.29 and last traded at $60.91, with a volume of 4609201 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $60.05.

MNST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.17.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 659.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,231,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake 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.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $59.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. 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 50 day moving average price of $57.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.90.

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

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.