Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $99.15 and last traded at $98.6510, with a volume of 754579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Trading Down 1.2%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.09 and a 200 day moving average of $81.46. The company has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 81,763 shares in the company, valued at $7,028,347.48. The trade was a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,457,562. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,021,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,915,120,000 after buying an additional 302,557 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,509,369,000 after acquiring an additional 330,766 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $908,102,000 after acquiring an additional 99,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,885,000 after acquiring an additional 692,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.