Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $665.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $650.00 to $665.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the social networking company's stock. Oppenheimer's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.39% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $24.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $597.02. The stock had a trading volume of 24,702,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 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.