Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MNST. Argus raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.26.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST opened at $54.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.18.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. Equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,944,748.60. This trade represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,379 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after buying an additional 1,229,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Monster Beverage by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,012,000 after buying an additional 1,383,914 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,543,000 after buying an additional 734,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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.