Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $530.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $500.00 to $530.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on META. BNP Paribas started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.39.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5 %

META stock opened at $474.83 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $493.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $477.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,186.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,186.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,175 shares of company stock valued at $154,616,712 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.