Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $775.00 at Piper Sandler

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $670.00 to $775.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. Piper Sandler's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.81% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $703.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

META stock traded up $10.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $687.00. 29,271,983 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,711,077. The firm's 50 day moving average is $608.52 and its 200 day moving average is $563.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company'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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 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.