JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 5.80% from the stock’s current price.

MNST has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 6.9%

Shares of MNST stock traded up $4.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.89. 4,626,372 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,905,533. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.36. The company has a market cap of $69.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a 12 month low of $45.70 and a 12 month high of $72.62.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.