UBS Group Raises Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $635.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at UBS Group from $630.00 to $635.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 33.73% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.39.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $474.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $493.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21.

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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,186.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at $16,819,124.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,186.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,175 shares of company stock worth $154,616,712 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.