Meta Platforms (META) – Research Analysts’ Recent Ratings Updates

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 11/14/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. They now have a $405.00 price target on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at Piper Sandler from $365.00 to $355.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $356.00 to $380.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $410.00 to $400.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $372.00 to $380.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $400.00 price target on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $350.00 price target on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $390.00 to $405.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $372.00 to $411.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 10/26/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Roth Mkm from $360.00 to $365.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 10/9/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $389.00 to $372.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/4/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $425.00 to $400.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/2/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Truist Financial Co.. They now have a $390.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/28/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a $425.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/28/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at KeyCorp. They now have a $356.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/28/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They now have a $375.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/28/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.. They now have a $385.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/28/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities. They now have a $380.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/27/2023 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Guggenheim from $375.00 to $380.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 9/22/2023 – Meta Platforms had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Citigroup Inc.. They now have a $385.00 price target on the stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

META opened at $332.71 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.32 and a 1-year high of $338.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $855.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $310.10 and a 200-day moving average of $291.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The social networking company reported $4.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 26.40% and a net margin of 23.42%. The company had revenue of $34.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 28,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.60, for a total transaction of $8,699,595.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.45, for a total value of $193,261.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,255,319. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 28,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.60, for a total transaction of $8,699,595.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 176,082 shares of company stock worth $56,635,671. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

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.