Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $550.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial from $525.00 to $550.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 11.30% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $5.59 on Wednesday, hitting $494.17. 12,136,090 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,054,334. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $396.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490 over the last quarter. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,643 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,151 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,958,000 after buying an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 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.