Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Downgraded to "Neutral" Rating by Rothschild & Co Redburn

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn's price objective points to a potential upside of 1.40% from the stock's previous close.

MNST has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen raised 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, May 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.87.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST traded down $0.40 on Wednesday, reaching $59.17. The company had a trading volume of 5,482,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,006,972. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $64.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.47 and a 200-day moving average of $56.74. The company has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.59.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 89,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the fourth 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. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 5,095.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,063,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $121,575,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.