Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $675.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Mizuho from $650.00 to $675.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.84% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on META. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $14.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $577.73. 9,036,724 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,070,146. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $554.49 and its 200-day moving average is $512.18. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $296.86 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 250,818 shares of company stock worth $132,569,993. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.