Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $660.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.49% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $597.95.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.47 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $583.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $519.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $500.85. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,191,218.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,191,218.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock valued at $162,308,065. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

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.