Bank of America Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $630.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $563.00 to $630.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.28% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the subject of several other reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.92.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META traded down $2.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $566.15. The company had a trading volume of 7,138,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,610,466. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $512.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $577.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 359,060 shares of company stock valued at $188,031,963 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. 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.