JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $725.00 to $610.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 4.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $708.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 14.8 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $585.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $634.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.40. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at $18,804,216.70. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 499,507 shares of company stock worth $334,165,387 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 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.