Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $64.22 and last traded at $64.02, with a volume of 837151 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $63.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.81.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 2.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,528.71. This represents a 12.15% 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 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This trade represents a 54.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 217,112 shares of company stock valued at $12,033,838. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.9% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.