Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.11.

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Monster Beverage stock opened at $55.65 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.47. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.72.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by 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.