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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at UBS Group from $736.00 to $786.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.41% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $10.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $687.00. 29,291,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,714,160. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $608.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 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.