Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $740.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $635.00 to $740.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the social networking company's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target indicates a potential upside of 3.70% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on META. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $5.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $713.57. The stock had a trading volume of 9,315,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,534,470. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $647.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $627.91. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,095 shares of company stock worth $93,076,345. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 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.