Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $675.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $650.00 to $675.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.01% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $567.16 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $513.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,993 shares of company stock valued at $133,271,982. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the first quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.