Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $750.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $700.00 to $750.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.63% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $671.89. 4,237,718 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,989,859. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $682.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $606.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $562.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 602,612 shares of company stock worth $368,414,542 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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.