The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $688.00 to $765.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.00% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of META opened at $689.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $613.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 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.