DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $700.00 to $800.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. DA Davidson's target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.71% from the company's current price.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $698.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of META stock traded up $14.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $691.39. 19,926,804 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,151,370. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $608.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.58. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,735 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,555,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Sage Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 4,915 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,878,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 81,424 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $47,675,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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