JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $725.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $660.00 to $725.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.73% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $595.57 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $585.66 and its 200 day moving average is $541.23. 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 has a 52 week low of $340.01 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 287,879 shares of company stock valued at $174,127,704. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after acquiring an additional 91,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.