Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $775.00 to $610.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. Piper Sandler's target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.21% from the company's current price.
A number of other research firms also recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $698.40.
Get Our Latest Report on META
Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.6 %
Meta Platforms stock traded down $14.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $529.49. 8,330,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,752,300. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $628.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 451,119 shares of company stock valued at $304,709,239 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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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.
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