Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $780.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $775.00 to $780.00 in a report released on Thursday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt's price target points to a potential upside of 42.08% from the stock's current price.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $683.78.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $427.11 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $578.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $603.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap 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.

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 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 company's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.54, for a total value of $337,768.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,109,940.92. This trade represents a 13.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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.

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