Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.8947.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Sunday, May 10th.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MNST stock opened at $87.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.91. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $89.85.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This trade represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock worth $13,730,462. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 112.3% during the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 541,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,204,000 after buying an additional 286,192 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $5,276,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter valued at $2,261,000. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $908,102,000 after buying an additional 99,168 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.