Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target Raised to $79.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $75.00 to $79.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MNST. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research lowered Monster Beverage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Monster Beverage from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.90.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $81.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.65. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $48.39 and a 52 week high of $83.24.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Rodney C. Sacks sold 206,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $2,199,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 63,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,687,368.09. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MNST. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Monster Beverage in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

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.