Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $690.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $685.00 to $690.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.68% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $692.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $549.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $578.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $603.67. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $427.11 and a one 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.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at $121,588,349.12. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,071 shares of company stock worth $175,741,082 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired 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 fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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.

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