Oppenheimer Raises Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $260.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $235.00 to $260.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, The Fly reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock. Oppenheimer also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q1 2023 earnings at $1.77 EPS, Q2 2023 earnings at $2.18 EPS, Q2 2023 earnings at $2.56 EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at $2.60 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $4.15 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $9.05 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $11.06 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $14.53 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $11.73 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $14.70 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.24 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $164.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $275.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $150.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $215.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $209.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $195.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.22. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $88.09 and a fifty-two week high of $236.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $507.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.88. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 10.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total transaction of $39,911.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,988.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 13,341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.23, for a total transaction of $2,271,038.43. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 67,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,424,305.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total value of $39,911.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,052,988.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,342 shares of company stock valued at $12,285,012. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,026,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,416,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,138,000. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,379,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.92% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.