Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MNST. UBS Group upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.67.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.8%

MNST stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,258,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,124,889. The company's fifty day moving average price is $60.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $64.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.83, a PEG 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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. The trade was a 68.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 92,796 shares of company stock worth $5,399,838. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Monster Beverage by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 15,592 shares of the company's stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 127.7% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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.