Meta Platforms’ (META) Underperform Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $521.30.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $493.50 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 in the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

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

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.