Morgan Stanley Cuts Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target to $60.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Monster Beverage from a buy rating to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $61.11.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $48.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.67. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $61.22. The firm has a market cap of $50.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 22.83%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Hilton H. Schlosberg sold 42,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $2,233,632.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,875,558 shares in the company, valued at $99,404,574. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $13,055,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 532,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,820,413.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 307,221 shares of company stock worth $16,070,374. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,837,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,042 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,515,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,466 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,182,000 after acquiring an additional 37,391 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,469,000 after buying an additional 440,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,659,000 after buying an additional 3,026,657 shares in the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.