Meta Platforms’ (META) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Thursday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $770.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $700.00. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on META. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

META stock opened at $689.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $613.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 42,603 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,944,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,218,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,301,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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.