Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNSTGet Free Report)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Piper Sandler downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $50.30, but opened at $49.23. Piper Sandler now has a $50.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $63.00. Monster Beverage shares last traded at $50.05, with a volume of 676,368 shares.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, August 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.76.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Monster Beverage

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 56,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $3,305,239.62. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,027,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,447,270.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 56,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.81, for a total transaction of $3,305,239.62. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,027,840 shares in the company, valued at $60,447,270.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $6,308,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,141,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,451,375.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 166,318 shares of company stock worth $9,620,379 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 3.3% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,097,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,699,000 after buying an additional 27,858 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 7.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 76.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 37,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 16,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 91.4% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 114,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,132,000 after buying an additional 54,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.60% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.15. The company has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.85.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNSTGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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: Finished Product, Concentrate, and Other. It offers carbonated non-carbonated energy drinks, ready-to-drink iced teas and juice drinks, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters, and sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices, and flavored sparkling beverages.

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