Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $685.00 to $752.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on META. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.64.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of META stock opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average of $563.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $682.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % 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, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other 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.