Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $775.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $665.00 to $775.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.03% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.88.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $15.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $698.02. 7,940,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,496,929. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $604.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $619.96. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,593 shares of company stock worth $56,008,477 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.