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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by analysts at Mizuho from $675.00 to $750.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.87% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $608.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.