Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $725.00 Price Target at Guggenheim

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Guggenheim from $675.00 to $725.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Guggenheim's target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.44% from the stock's previous close.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $24.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $597.02. The stock had a trading volume of 24,702,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $575.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $603.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,588,349.12. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.