Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Cut to “Sell” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial cut shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) from a buy rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $46.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $65.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MNST. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $61.79.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $53.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.00 and its 200 day moving average is $55.57. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $47.13 and a 52 week high of $61.22.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 22.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 129,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,883,000 after purchasing an additional 39,522 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 400,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Finally, Sather Financial Group Inc grew its position in Monster Beverage by 9.8% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 791,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,902,000 after buying an additional 70,944 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently 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.