Scotiabank Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $583.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $585.00 to $583.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the social networking company's stock. Scotiabank's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.72% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $24.22 on Thursday, hitting $567.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,782,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,160,283. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $296.86 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $555.21 and its 200-day moving average is $512.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.44 earnings per share 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 on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.