Guggenheim Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $750.00 to $675.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Guggenheim's price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.18% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $2.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $543.57. 17,619,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,764,979. The company has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $628.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $609.11. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 487,453 shares of company stock valued at $326,680,904. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 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.