Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

NASDAQ MNST traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.39. The stock had a trading volume of 6,283,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,411,268. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.75. Monster Beverage has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $61.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MNST has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Monster Beverage from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.68.

Insider Activity

In other Monster Beverage news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 659,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.55, for a total value of $38,584,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 777,840 shares in the company, valued at $45,542,532. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.40% 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.