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

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $97.90 and last traded at $97.4050, with a volume of 456049 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.30.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In related news, CEO Guy Carling sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,863 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MNST. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 15,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 112.3% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 541,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,204,000 after buying an additional 286,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the first quarter worth about $5,276,000. 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.