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

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $94.88 and last traded at $92.99, with a volume of 339181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $91.33 billion, a PE ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.03.

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

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monster Beverage news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. The trade was a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $691,104,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Monster Beverage by 7,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,191,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,695,000 after buying an additional 6,108,420 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 133.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,499,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,660,000 after acquiring an additional 4,858,109 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,538,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,575 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 (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.