Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $647.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $625.00 to $647.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 36.26% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on META. Citigroup reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.39.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $474.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $493.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $477.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,175 shares of company stock valued at $154,616,712 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.