Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 1.5%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded up 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $459.25 and last traded at $458.56. 4,628,326 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 18,226,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $451.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

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 stock has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $490.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,223,416 shares of company stock worth $597,392,856 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.