Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $59.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $66.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $61.79.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.4 %

Monster Beverage stock opened at $53.37 on Thursday. Monster Beverage has a 1 year low of $47.13 and a 1 year high of $61.22. The company has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.68.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total transaction of $38,584,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 777,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,542,532. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $517,035,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 20.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,026,657 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,893,064 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 61.5% in the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,431,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.