Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $77.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.74.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.3%

Monster Beverage stock opened at $78.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.96 and its 200 day moving average is $67.99. The company has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.46. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $79.01.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 21.65%.The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $15,197,433.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 38,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.33, for a total value of $2,741,782.54. Following the sale, the insider owned 21,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Monster Beverage by 397.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 247.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 9,251 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $393,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 90,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter valued at $682,000. 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.