Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $700.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $770.00 to $700.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 38.81% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $685.17.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $504.30. 4,467,888 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,779,081. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $616.82 and a 200 day moving average of $607.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 414,901 shares of company stock valued at $282,367,368 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.