Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.11.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $59.04 on Wednesday. Monster Beverage has a fifty-two week low of $43.32 and a fifty-two week high of $59.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,054.86. This trade represents a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,316 shares of company stock worth $11,484,440 over the last 90 days. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,383,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,278,000 after purchasing an additional 14,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 306,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.