Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $690.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $655.00 to $690.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Citigroup's target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.57% from the company's previous close.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $24.81 on Thursday, hitting $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company's 50-day moving average price is $575.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $603.62.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total value of $279,188.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,443,524. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.