Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $710.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $660.00 to $710.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on META. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $7.05 on Thursday, hitting $630.55. 2,884,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,296,420. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $598.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.76. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $385.66 and a one year high of $638.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.