Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $610.00 to $650.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. Piper Sandler's target price indicates a potential upside of 8.87% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $24.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $575.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.62. The company has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.