UBS Group Increases Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $610.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by research analysts at UBS Group from $530.00 to $610.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.44% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $494.17 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value 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 worth $684,796,490 over the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.