Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $62.00 at UBS Group

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $57.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.11% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MNST. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.33.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.7 %

MNST traded up $0.98 on Thursday, hitting $58.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,818,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,055,869. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. Monster Beverage has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $60.34.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at about $460,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 3,037.1% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 9,819 shares of the company's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 9,506 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,086 shares of the company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 82,047 shares of the company's stock worth $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.