Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Cut to $56.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price cut by BMO Capital Markets from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

MNST has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $61.32.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MNST traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.22. 10,018,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,542,921. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.86.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the first quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 43,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 39.2% in the first quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC now owns 22,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1,060.1% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 64,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after buying an additional 59,156 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 156.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 114,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after buying an additional 69,674 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

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.