Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Upgraded to Hold at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

MNST has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $92.83 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $93.08.

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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 88,700 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $7,624,652.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 81,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,028,347.48. This trade represents a 52.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CI Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.5% in the first quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 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.