Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 1.4%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares rose 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $474.97 and last traded at $474.74. Approximately 4,370,764 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 18,134,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $468.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $489.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.32, for a total value of $16,281,261.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,819,124.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,126,899 shares of company stock worth $552,059,793. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.