Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $562.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $520.00 to $562.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.88% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on META. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $521.30.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

META stock opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $495.93 and its 200 day moving average is $403.14. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.