Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $82.71 and last traded at $82.7370, with a volume of 300839 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $82.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Monster Beverage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.05.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.8%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.66. The firm has a market cap of $80.74 billion, a PE ratio of 47.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total transaction of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 63,939 shares in the company, valued at $4,687,368.09. The trade was a 31.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,760.69. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 274,981 shares of company stock worth $20,138,516. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 49.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 11,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Monster Beverage

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.