Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Coverage Initiated at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. CICC Research raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.67.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $63.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $62.11 billion, a PE ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.45. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $64.45.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 23.31%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 259.2% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 686 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.1% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.