Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $83.43 and traded as high as $94.54. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $93.56, with a volume of 3,867,683 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MNST. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Monster Beverage from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.65.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.1%

The stock has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.50.

Monster Beverage’s stock is scheduled to split on the morning of Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for 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%. Monster Beverage’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,678,299.26. This trade represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 over the last ninety days. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.6% during 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. 72.36% of the stock is owned by 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.