Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Coverage Initiated at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $60.10.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST opened at $50.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $52.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.36. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.83% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,875,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $781,742.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,534,458.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,404,574. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,837,867,000 after buying an additional 1,059,042 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after buying an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,182,000 after buying an additional 37,391 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,469,000 after buying an additional 440,962 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,657 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.