Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $675.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $525.00 to $675.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the social networking company's stock. Scotiabank's target price would suggest a potential downside of 4.05% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $748.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $9.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $703.48. 5,248,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,281,394. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $686.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $638.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 152,437 shares of company stock worth $105,068,570. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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