Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $550.00 at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Truist Financial from $525.00 to $550.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price indicates a potential upside of 9.61% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $501.80 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $494.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $397.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total value of $7,568,131.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total transaction of $3,500,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,086,721.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 over the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.