Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Raymond James from $675.00 to $725.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.35% from the company’s previous close.

META has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $651.27.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $5.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $617.79. 4,120,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,440,146. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $597.37 and its 200-day moving average is $557.77. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $381.16 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at $18,804,216.70. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 495,269 shares of company stock valued at $300,888,396 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.