Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $525.00 by Analysts at Raymond James

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Raymond James from $550.00 to $525.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “strong-buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.43% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $404.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.