Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $685.00 to $752.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.46% from the company's current price.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price target (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $703.38.
Read Our Latest Report on META
Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %
Meta Platforms stock traded up $10.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $687.00. 29,271,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,711,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $608.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.58. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 38,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
(
Get Free Report)
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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