Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $918.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $846.00 to $918.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' price objective suggests a potential upside of 53.76% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on META. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded up $24.81 on Thursday, reaching $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,455,871. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock 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 1.24. 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's fifty day moving average price is $575.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $603.80.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.