Truist Financial Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $650.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective increased by analysts at Truist Financial from $570.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 10.18% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $589.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $538.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $505.52. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merrion Investment Management Co LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the third quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.