The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $685.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective dropped by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $765.00 to $685.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 28.08% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on META. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $692.93.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $8.73 on Monday, reaching $534.84. 9,529,118 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,756,730. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $628.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $609.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 451,119 shares of company stock worth $304,709,239. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.