Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.23 and last traded at $92.2070, with a volume of 262509 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MNST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $90.87 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.30.

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

Monster Beverage declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MNST. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth $691,104,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after purchasing an additional 6,108,420 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 133.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,499,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,858,109 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,685 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.