Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $627.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by Scotiabank from $583.00 to $627.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 10.88% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $674.48.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $703.52 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $608.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $703.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 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.