Rosenblatt Securities Increases Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $811.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities from $643.00 to $811.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target indicates a potential upside of 43.67% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $3.81 on Thursday, hitting $564.50. 8,837,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,619,601. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $512.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.54. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $577.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 359,060 shares of company stock valued at $188,031,963 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.