UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at UBS Group from $650.00 to $683.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. UBS Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock's current price.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $692.37.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $549.00 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $578.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.67. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $427.11 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,936,593.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.54, for a total transaction of $337,768.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,109,940.92. This trade represents a 13.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $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 acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing 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.

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