Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $800.00 at Oppenheimer

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $650.00 to $800.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.21% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $703.38.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $11.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $688.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,295,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,273,662. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $608.52 and its 200-day moving average is $563.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 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.