Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Cut to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) was downgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Thursday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $59.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $66.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MNST. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.79.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.33 on Thursday. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $47.13 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The company has a market capitalization of $56.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.59.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 6,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 41,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after buying an additional 16,190 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $1,131,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.