Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $685.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $765.00 to $685.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 28.08% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $692.93.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $8.73 on Monday, hitting $534.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,529,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,756,730. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $628.35 and its 200-day moving average is $609.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,804,216.70. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 451,119 shares of company stock worth $304,709,239. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.