Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday 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 $62.46 and last traded at $61.69, with a volume of 724255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 54.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following 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 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 worth $11,484,440 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first 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 acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position 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 worth about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $60.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The business's fifty day moving average price is $57.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.96.

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

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.

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