Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $530.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lifted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $525.00 to $530.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential downside of 6.55% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $567.16 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $555.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $513.03. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $308.33 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 36.26%. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,993 shares of company stock worth $133,271,982 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,724.9% in the first quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 9,646 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the first quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 663 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $212,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 480 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.