Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 6.5% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) rose 6.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $633.75 and last traded at $630.95. Approximately 8,790,573 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 14,446,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $571.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $606.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,171 shares of company stock worth $55,161,016 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at 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.