JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target to $56.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $59.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an underperform rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $59.33.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $51.00 on Tuesday. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $61.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.40. The stock has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $781,742.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,534,458.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $13,055,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 532,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,820,413.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 15,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.85, for a total transaction of $781,742.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,534,458.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 307,221 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,374 over the last three months. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $517,035,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 93.9% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620,436 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,657 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 143.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,209,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,064 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the second quarter worth $81,757,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.