Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target upped by research analysts at UBS Group from $690.00 to $719.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 26.77% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $308.33 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $555.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $513.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $3,299,931.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.