Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at SunTrust Banks Inc. to $142.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday. SunTrust Banks Inc.’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.13% from the stock’s previous close.
The analysts wrote, “Bob” Peck, as the social media giant’s quarterly numbers trumped the estimates of both Peck and the Street handsomely.Q2, In ReviewFacebook’s second-quarter EPS/revenue of $0.97/$6.44 billion was higher than the Peck’s estimate of $0.83/$6 billion and consensus estimate of $0.82/$6.02 billion.”Facebook’s 2Q report refuted the growing concerns that rising competition was stagnating user growth and monetization. Not only did Facebook report higher DAUs across all regions with accelerating monetization, but it did so on higher incremental operating margins of 64 percent,” Peck wrote in a note.Ad revenue growth was 63 percent year-over-year (20 percent quarter-over-quarter), ahead of the Street. DAUs added came in at 38 million quarter-over-quarter and 160 million year-over-year, growing 17 percent and improved across all geographies. Mobile DAUs are now greater than 1 billion. In addition, double-digit growth in time spent underscored engagement. Meanwhile, the analyst highlighted that ad loads will be less of a driver going forward from the double digit growth in the second quarter. Related Link: Google Needs To Convince Wall Street It Does More Than Sell AdsWhile “sharing was up” across properties, original post sharing on the Facebook main news feed is unclear. Also, there remains ambiguity over Instagram user growth in the United States.”Tougher revenue comps begin in 2H’16 and flow into 2017 — implying continued ad revenue growth deceleration,” Peck continued.However, the analyst raised his FY2016 revenue/EPS estimate to $26.7 billion /$3.86 from $26.1 billion/$3.65. Peck also increased his full-year ad revenue forecast to $26.4 billion from $26 billion.”With ~2 billion users on Messenger and WhatsApp yet to be monetized, we believe Facebook has a long runway. We reiterate our Buy and raise our target to $142 (from $135),”
In related news, Director Susan Desmond-Hellmann sold 625 shares of Facebook stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.52, for a total value of $74,700.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jan Koum sold 2,082,957 shares of Facebook stock in a transaction on Monday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.27, for a total transaction of $246,351,324.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) traded up 1.28% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $124.92. The stock had a trading volume of 70,015,345 shares. The stock has a market cap of $357.31 billion and a P/E ratio of 76.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $116.51 and its 200-day moving average is $111.90. Facebook has a 52-week low of $72.00 and a 52-week high of $128.33.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 27th. The social networking company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.15. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm earned $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Facebook will post $3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Axiom Securities increased their price objective on shares of Facebook from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 4th. Societe Generale set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Facebook and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Facebook to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Credit Suisse Group AG increased their price objective on shares of Facebook from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective (up from $157.00) on shares of Facebook in a research report on Monday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, forty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Facebook currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.85.
Facebook, Inc builds products that enable people to connect and share through mobile devices and personal computers. The Company enables people to share their opinions, ideas, photos and videos, and other activities. Its products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus. Facebook is a mobile application and Website that enables people to connect, share, discover and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers.
