Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $820.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock. Benchmark's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.36% from the stock's previous close.
Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $703.38.
Read Our Latest Research Report on META
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
META traded up $10.51 on Thursday, reaching $687.00. The company had a trading volume of 29,271,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,711,077. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $563.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd 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. 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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