Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $640.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $610.00 to $640.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.04% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.92.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $566.15. 7,138,042 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,610,466. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $512.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $498.54. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $577.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $231,280.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,152,320. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 359,060 shares of company stock worth $188,031,963. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.