Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.41.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of MNST stock traded up $3.42 on Friday, hitting $69.73. The stock had a trading volume of 14,099,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,954,324. Monster Beverage has a twelve month low of $45.70 and a twelve month high of $72.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.44. The firm has a market cap of $68.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.31, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.53.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.08. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Monster Beverage by 49.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the third quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 13.4% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.