KeyCorp Raises Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $540.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $475.00 to $540.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. KeyCorp's price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.63% from the company's previous close.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $501.70. 11,781,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,566,742. The business's 50-day moving average price is $479.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $445.90. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total value of $248,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,587,843. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total transaction of $248,430.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,049 shares in the company, valued at $4,587,843. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 391,071 shares of company stock worth $192,834,857 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 93,423 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 7,007 shares during the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $194,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $599,000. Finally, American Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 3,179 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.