Wedbush Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $680.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by research analysts at Wedbush from $770.00 to $680.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 30.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $690.79.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $12.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $519.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,125,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,761,074. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $624.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 450,214 shares of company stock worth $304,162,130 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

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