Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Bank of America from $57.00 to $66.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Bank of America's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.84% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MNST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.39.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

MNST stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.49. 3,057,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,041,918. The company has a market cap of $56.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.49, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.64. Monster Beverage has a 52-week low of $43.32 and a 52-week high of $60.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $56.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total transaction of $552,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,528.71. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,220,011.38. This represents a 54.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,316 shares of company stock valued at $11,484,440. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Monster Beverage by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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.