Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BNP Paribas

Stock analysts at BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ target price would indicate a potential downside of 18.03% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $439.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $492.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.97. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total value of $15,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock valued at $612,916,087 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.