Meta Platforms' (META) Strong-Buy Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating restated by stock analysts at Raymond James in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $800.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $725.00. Raymond James' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.45% from the company's previous close.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $10.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $687.00. 29,291,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,714,160. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $608.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $563.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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.