Loop Capital Issues Positive Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target hoisted by Loop Capital from $695.00 to $888.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on META. Roth Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

META opened at $640.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $571.37 and its 200 day moving average is $606.72.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $677,920.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,939,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 11,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,927,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $325,000. Finally, Wiser Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Meta Platforms by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Wiser Wealth Management Inc now owns 765 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.