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

Key Points

• Monster Beverage Corporation shares reached a new 52-week high after Citigroup raised its price target from $74 to $76, currently holding a buy rating on the stock.
• Despite positive analyst upgrades, twelve analysts have rated the stock as a buy, while eight have assigned a hold rating, indicating mixed market sentiment.
• The company reported earnings of $0.52 per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues of $2.11 billion, marking an 11.1% increase year-over-year.

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $76.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Monster Beverage traded as high as $66.85 and last traded at $66.43, with a volume of 319318 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.16.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MNST. Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,360,899 shares of the company's stock worth $4,094,207,000 after acquiring an additional 574,275 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,929,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,188,004,000 after buying an additional 900,479 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,450,305 shares of the company's stock worth $1,656,847,000 after purchasing an additional 385,692 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,680,424 shares of the company's stock worth $1,165,292,000 after purchasing an additional 742,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,983,411 shares of the company's stock worth $688,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829,064 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $62.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.16 and a 200 day moving average of $60.88.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation 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.