Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $53.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.30% from the stock’s current price.

MNST has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.26.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of MNST traded up $2.89 on Friday, reaching $54.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,938,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,350,546. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $43.32 and a 12-month high of $61.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a current ratio of 3.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.08.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779,162 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at $442,642,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 659.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,872,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,445,000 after buying an additional 4,231,063 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 250.9% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 3,468,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,575,000. 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.