Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $655.00 to $845.00 in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target indicates a potential upside of 18.21% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wedbush raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $714.80. The stock had a trading volume of 10,897,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,506,421. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $689.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $640.33.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total transaction of $365,213.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,451,795.82. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,954 shares of company stock valued at $105,433,784 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.