JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lifted by research analysts at JMP Securities from $660.00 to $750.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. JMP Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 28.09% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $640.20.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $585.51 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $588.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.56. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $340.01 and a one year high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,375,535.40. The trade was a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 326,211 shares of company stock worth $197,633,759. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.