Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Analysts at Scotiabank

Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a "sector perform" rating and a $585.00 price target on the social networking company's stock. Scotiabank's price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.04% from the stock's current price.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Pivotal Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $780.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of META traded up $1.41 on Friday, hitting $585.24. 3,232,280 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,334,787. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $536.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $504.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

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.