Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Upgraded by Rothschild & Co Redburn to “Buy” Rating

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was upgraded by stock analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $900.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $740.00. Rothschild & Co Redburn’s target price indicates a potential upside of 36.62% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.11.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ META opened at $658.76 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $642.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $696.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total value of $314,516.95. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,649 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,319.15. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,115 shares of company stock worth $24,668,044 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.