Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Monster Beverage shares crossed above their 200-day moving average, reaching $45.04 before last trading at $44.57, compared with the average of $43.31.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.33; 13 analysts rate the stock Buy and nine rate it Hold.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.60 versus expectations of $0.58 and revenue of $2.50 billion, up 20.2% year over year. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the stock.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $43.31 and traded as high as $45.04. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $44.57, with a volume of 8,017,948 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $47.00 to $50.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $47.50 price objective (up from $36.50) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.33.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $87.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.27, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.31.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.02% and a net margin of 23.08%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,770,004,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company's stock worth $1,509,369,000 after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth $1,195,360,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 27.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,465,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $691,104,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation is a beverage company headquartered in Corona, California. It develops, markets and distributes energy drinks and other alternative beverages through a portfolio of brands that includes Monster Energy, Reign, NOS, Full Throttle, Burn and Bang Energy.

The company offers energy drinks in a variety of flavors and formulations, including products positioned for performance, fitness and everyday use. Monster also participates in the alcoholic beverage category through products marketed under the Monster Brewing Company name, including flavored malt beverages and beers.

Monster Beverage traces its roots to Hansen's, a juice and natural beverage business founded in the 1930s.

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