Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by Citigroup from $753.00 to $780.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Citigroup's price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.54% from the company's current price.

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $10.51 on Thursday, hitting $687.00. The company had a trading volume of 29,291,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,714,160. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $608.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares in the company, valued at $376,234.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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