Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $230.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, The Fly reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $150.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Arete Research restated a sell rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $220.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $150.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $209.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $195.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.42 and a 200-day moving average of $140.33. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $88.09 and a 1-year high of $236.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $507.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.88. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.69 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 21.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.44, for a total transaction of $39,822.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,364.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.44, for a total value of $39,822.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Susan J.S. Taylor sold 1,400 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.96, for a total transaction of $242,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,949 shares in the company, valued at $510,059.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,342 shares of company stock worth $12,285,012. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the first quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,490 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Red Wave Investments LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 12,884 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Dimension Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimension Capital Management LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 60.92% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.