Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $680.00 to $750.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.87% from the company’s previous close.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average of $563.58. The company has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during 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.