Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $588.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $527.00 to $588.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 18.99% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $494.17 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $493.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.70. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 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.