Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $63.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MNST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.17.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Monster Beverage stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.14. The company had a trading volume of 8,654,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,977,033. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.96. The company has a market cap of $59.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $61.83. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company's stock worth $251,445,000 after buying an additional 4,231,063 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock worth $179,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 250.9% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480,291 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,575,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.