UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by UBS Group from $865.00 to $766.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.71% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush raised Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $7.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $661.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,676,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,837,744. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $598.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $626.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,083 shares of company stock valued at $24,628,719. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is getting praise on Wall Street for its expanding AI ambitions, including a larger Louisiana data center buildout and a lower-cost AI model that could help it compete more efficiently with rivals. Meta Scales Up Louisiana AI Data Center
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators say Meta’s AI spending could pay off, with bullish takes pointing to stronger competitiveness, cheaper model economics, and upside if investors expected worse capital spending. Wall Street’s Bar for Big Tech Is on the Floor, and That Could Spark the Next Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also continued to attract positive attention from AI-focused investors, with coverage highlighting it as a top AI stock and a strong mega-cap alternative. Meta Platforms Inc. (META) Is A Top AI Stock In D. E. Shaw’s Holdings

About Meta Platforms

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.