Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price target on Monster Beverage and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.05.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $63.06. The company had a trading volume of 6,155,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,072,397. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $43.32 and a one year high of $64.45. 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's fifty day moving average price is $60.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.51. The stock has a market cap of $61.50 billion, a PE ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 312,094 shares of the company's stock worth $18,264,000 after acquiring an additional 5,943 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $9,249,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 18.4% in the first quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,768 shares of the company's stock worth $3,205,000 after acquiring an additional 8,522 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $2,338,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 3.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 126,852 shares of the company's stock worth $7,423,000 after acquiring an additional 4,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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.