Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by BMO Capital Markets

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by analysts at BMO Capital Markets in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $450.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective would indicate a potential downside of 11.56% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $508.84. The stock had a trading volume of 11,965,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,801,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $480.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.92. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $268.32 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.11, for a total transaction of $37,553,335.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 514,525 shares of company stock worth $253,108,340 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 960 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 6,928 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,080,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $293,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truepoint Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.4% during the third quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 11,678 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.