Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JMP Securities Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at JMP Securities from $635.00 to $660.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.37% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $513.03. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,993 shares of company stock valued at $133,271,982. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.