Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $615.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $660.00 to $615.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $500.40. 7,533,563 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,791,418. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $616.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $607.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 414,901 shares of company stock valued at $282,367,368 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.