Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $104.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $84.00 to $104.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.40% from the company’s previous close.

MNST has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $99.61. The company had a trading volume of 200,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,754,947. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $99.53. The company has a market capitalization of $97.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.12, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.27 and a 200-day moving average of $82.62.

Monster Beverage’s stock is set to split before the market opens on Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,727,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,987,346.70. This trade represents a 46.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.