Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $628.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $740.00 to $628.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 17.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $533.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $590.37 and a 200-day moving average of $604.75. The company has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,510,470. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.