Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Cut to $63.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $65.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.39% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Monster Beverage from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.68.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded up $0.76 during trading on Monday, reaching $54.13. 3,998,165 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,372,885. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $56.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.68. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The firm has a market cap of $56.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. Monster Beverage's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 50.5% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,914 shares of the company's stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,328 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,234 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 522.6% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 74,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 62,296 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently 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.