Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $0.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $512.74. 8,324,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,925,534. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $544.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $505.31 and a 200 day moving average of $493.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 392,495 shares of company stock worth $203,124,406. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.