Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $610.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at UBS Group from $530.00 to $610.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 21.94% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on META. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of META stock opened at $500.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $492.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $394.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161 over the last 90 days. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 29.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,159 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,933,000 after acquiring an additional 2,307 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Transform Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $5,475,000. Finally, Lincoln Capital Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the first quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp now owns 1,205 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is 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.