Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Loop Capital

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Loop Capital in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $550.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Loop Capital’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.85% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $509.96 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $482.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $458.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 13,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after buying an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,272,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $381,867,000 after acquiring an additional 98,788 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 39.8% in the third quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,802 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Tenere Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tenere Capital LLC now owns 45,816 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,754,000 after buying an additional 17,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 59.3% during the third quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 78,473 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,558,000 after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.